Tila Nguyen (born October 24, 1981 in Singapore), commonly known as Tila Tequila or simply Tila, is an American glamour model and singer. Residing in West Hollywood, California, she is best known for her appearances in automotive import magazines, her role as host of the Fuse TV show Pants-Off Dance-Off and her position as the most popular artist on MySpace as of April 2006. She is currently signed to A&M Records. Raised in Houston, Texas, she is of Vietnamese descent.

Early years
Nguyen was born in Singapore, where her family emigrated after the Vietnam War. A few years later they moved again to the Houston neighborhood of Alief, where they lived in rundown housing for most of Nguyen’s childhood until they were admitted to a gated community run by a strict Buddhist temple. The family left the community when Nguyen was eight.

As soon as she entered middle school, Nguyen developed a tomboy attitude and started getting in fights. Her behavior eventually got her sent to a boarding school for six months before she was transferred to another school. As she got older, she used her sister’s identification card to enter nightclubs, where she began experimenting with drugs and joined a gang. In an interview with Import Tuner, Nguyen said she had been searching for a sense of identity: “I was really confused then, ’cause at first I thought I was black, then I thought I was Hispanic and joined a cholo gang.” Later she made some friends outside the gang who briefly helped turn her life around, however her past caught up with her, and she fled to Queens, New York. When she returned to Texas she had a three-way relationship with two girlfriends, but eventually decided she could no longer handle her lifestyle. She began to focus on her studies and her jobs.

Modeling
Nguyen realized her life would get worse if she continued living in Texas, so she moved to Hollywood to pursue her career in entertainment. She claims her career began at the age of eighteen when she was spotted at a mall by a Playboy scout and was offered a chance to model nude for the magazine. She declined at first, but she was featured as Playboy’s Cyber Girl of the week on April 22, 2002, and soon thereafter she became the first Asian Cyber Girl of the Month.

In 2005 some Internet porn sites began offering hardcore videos they claimed were of Nguyen; the model featured was actually Leanna Scott, who resembles her. Nguyen announced on her MySpace blog that it was not her in the video.

Nguyen gained further popularity through the import racing scene. She has been featured on the cover of Import Tuner magazine, at car shows such as Hot Import Nights, and in the video game Street Racing Syndicate. In 2003 she was a contestant on VH1’s Surviving Nugent, a reality TV show where participants performed compromising tasks and stunts for rock star Ted Nugent. She was also the most frequent host on the first season of Fuse TV’s dance show, Pants-Off Dance-Off, on which a motley group of contestants strip to music videos.

Nguyen was featured on the cover of the April 2006 issue of Stuff magazine; in the interview, she claimed that her nickname “Tila Tequila” comes from her tendency to blush when she drinks alcohol. She was later included in Stuff’s 100 Sexiest Women Online. She appeared on the August 2006 Maxim UK cover and was named #88 in their Hot 100 List.

Music career
Nguyen used modeling as a stepping stone for other career opportunities. At age twenty, she took interest in rock music and started looking for bands willing to have her join. Her Playboy past hurt her credibility, but she eventually assembled a band called Beyond Betty Jean, for which she was singer-songwriter. Following the break-up of Beyond Betty Jean, Nguyen started working in recording studios to sharpen her vocal skills and write music. Nguyen became the lead singer of a band called Jealousy, which has released songs over the Internet. Jealousy has appeared on MySpace Records’ inaugural compilation album, released through MySpace Records/Interscope.

A major turn in Nguyen’s music career occurred during the April 24, 2006 taping of MTV’s Total Request Live. In an interview with the TRL VJs, will.i.am announced that Nguyen was signed to the will.i.am music group, a record label under A&M Records. This marks Tila’s first contract with a major record label.

From Wikipedia