Ian in Your Ear: "Single Ladies" Hitmaker Strikes Again With Avatar

I saw Avatar over the four-day Christmas break and, like most of America, was blown away (hint: do not see it in anything other than the Imax 3D version). You are truly transported into another world, and James Cameron takes filmmaking to another level.

Besides transforming my mind, though, it's also helped transform the life of Thaddis Kuk Harrell. The songwriter, who helped pen Beyonce's smash "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," also wrote Avatar's theme song, "I See You," -- which scored him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song!

Even more interesting, Harrell was flat broke in 1999 when he received a surprise $250 royalty check and invested it into his ministry. The next day, he got a call offering work to sing on some demos, and he went on from there to work with everyone from Rihanna to Mary J. Blige.

Of course, the Avatar song is the cherry on top of his ten years of hard work. "I am very proud to be a part of the biggest film ever made," says Harrell. "We worked hard, so it was a very powerful and satisfying experience the first time I saw the film with our music in it. The success of "Single Ladies" made my year come all together, and this experience has just made 2009 one of the best years in my career."

The songwriter has just finished working on Mary J.'s new CD and is currently in the studio with J. Lo and Katy Perry. Check him out at his own site: Sugawugamusic.com.