Mario Mendell Winans is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina. An extended member of the Winans musical family, he is best known for his 2004 single "I Don't Wanna Know", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Prior, Winans signed with Dallas Austin's Rowdy Records as an in-house producer during the early-1990s, and received his first major credits for his work on R. Kelly's self-titled second album and Pebbles' Straight from My Heart. As a recording artist, he signed with Motown and released his debut studio album, Story of My Heart to commercial failure. The following year, he contributed to Diddy's 1998 single "Come with Me", and thereafter served as in-house talent for his Bad Boy Records production team, the Hitmen. While receiving further credits on commercially successful releases, he saw mainstream attention for his guest performance on Diddy's 2000 single "Best Friend" as well as his 2002 single "I Need a Girl," both of which entered the Billboard Hot 100-with the latter peaking at number four-and Winans signed with Bad Boy, an imprint of Universal Records as a solo act.