The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los Angeles area as part of a five-member group called the Paramours, and adopted the name The Righteous Brothers when they became a duo. Their most active recording period was in the 1960s and '70s, and, after several years inactive as a duo, Hatfield and Medley reunited in 1981 and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003. The term "blue-eyed soul" is thought to have first been coined by Philadelphia radio DJ Georgie Woods in 1964 when describing the duo's music.
India Arie Simpson, also known as India Arie, is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Acoustic Soul, was released in 2001, and she has since released six more studio albums. Arie has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide, and has won four Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, including Best R&B Album.
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group career, he has also produced songs for such artists as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Total, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend. Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s".
John Roger Stephens, known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and actor. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything," and making uncredited guest appearances on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys's "You Don't Know My Name". He was the first artist to sign with Kanye West's GOOD Music, through which he released his debut studio album, Get Lifted (2004). The album reached the top ten of the Billboard 200, received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned his first hit song, "Ordinary People."
Tevin Jermod Campbell is an American singer and songwriter. He performed gospel in his local church from an early age. Following an audition for jazz musician Bobbi Humphrey in 1988, Campbell was signed to Warner Bros. Records. In 1989, Campbell collaborated with Quincy Jones performing lead vocals for "Tomorrow" on Jones' album Back on the Block and released his Platinum-selling debut album, T.E.V.I.N. The album included his highest-charting single to date, "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do", peaking at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The debut album also included the singles "Alone With You", and "Goodbye".
Nappy Roots is an American alternative Southern rap group. The group met in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 1995 while attending Western Kentucky University. They are best known for their hit singles "Po' Folks", "Awnaw", "Roun' The Globe" and "Good Day". They were the best selling hip hop group of 2002. The group consists of Milledgeville, Georgia native Fish Scales and Kentucky natives Skinny DeVille, B. Stille and Ron Clutch.
Gerald Maxwell Rivera, known mononymously as Maxwell, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to prominence following the release of his debut studio album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (1996), which received widespread acclaim and spawned the hit singles "Ascension " and "Sumthin' Sumthin'". Through the album and its follow ups, Maxwell has been cited—along with Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, and Erykah Badu—for ushering in the neo soul movement and its sensibilities into mainstream popular music during the late 1990s.
Robin Alan Thicke is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single "Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, he received nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Brenda Russell is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses R&B, pop, soul, dance, and jazz. She has received five Grammy nominations.
Faheem Rashad Najm, better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for popularizing creative use of the Auto-Tune pitch correction effect, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electronic-styled vocal performances. Blending this with contemporary R&B and hip hop sensibilities, his music became characterized by this distinction, with other music industry artists such as Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Future utilizing it to a similar affect.
Mavis Staples is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving member. During her time in the group, she recorded the hit singles "I'll Take You There" and "Let's Do It Again". In 1969, Staples released her self-titled debut solo album.
"Can't Let Go" is an R&B–soul song written by American singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton and songwriter/producer Mark Batson for Hamilton's third album, Ain't Nobody Worryin' (2005). Released in as the album's lead single in October 2005 and produced by Batson, it debuted at number seventy-six on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs the week of November 5, 2005; there, it had a whopping sixty-eight-week chart run, peaking at number thirteen. On the Billboard Hot 100, where it entered at number ninety-three the week of March 18, 2006, the stay was much more brief, as was its peak position.
"Comin' from Where I'm From" is an R&B–soul song written by American singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton and songwriter/producer Mark Batson for Hamilton's second studio album Comin' from Where I'm From (2003). Released as the album's lead single, it was produced by Batson. Initially, it was released as an airplay-only single, entering the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number eighty-nine the week of August 16, 2003, spending twenty weeks and in the process and peaking at number sixty. In October 2003, the song was issued as a proper physical single. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2004: "Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance" and "Best R&B Song".
"Charlene" is an R&B–soul song written by American singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton and songwriter/producer Mark Batson for Hamilton's second studio album, Comin' from Where I'm From (2003). Prior to this album that gave Hamilton his biggest breakthrough in his music career, he was signed to six different record labels, and had unsuccessful experiences. This album included one of his biggest single hits 'Charlene', which played a major role on the album's success. Released as the album's second and final single in May 2004 and produced by Batson, the song was nominated for "Best Male R&B Vocal Performance" at the 2005 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Prince's "Call My Name".
"Po' Folks" is a 2002 song by the Kentucky-based hip group Nappy Roots, featuring fellow Southern act, singer Anthony Hamilton. Released on July 10 of that year by Atlantic Records, it served as the second single from their second studio album Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz. The song peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned two Grammy Award nominations—Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Long Form Music Video.
Kenneth Ryan Anthony better known by his stage name R. Prophet, is an American rapper. He was formerly in the Kentucky-based sextet alternative southern rap group Nappy Roots. He attended Western Kentucky University with the present Nappy Roots members.
Back to Love is the fifth studio album by American R&B singer Anthony Hamilton. It was released on December 13, 2011, by RCA Records. The album features writing and production from Babyface, Dre & Vidal, Kelvin Wooten, Mike City, Jairus Mozee, The Avila Brothers, as well as Hamilton himself.
Jack Splash is an American recording artist, musician, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles, California. Splash's works include writing and production on singles for artists such as Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, John Legend, CeeLo Green, Mayer Hawthorne, Goodie Mob, Ras Kass, B.o.B, R. Kelly, Pixie Lott, Christina Aguilera, Jazmine Sullivan, Jennifer Hudson, Melanie Fiona, Musiq Soulchild, K. Michelle, Keyshia Cole, Anthony Hamilton, Dirt Nasty, Estelle, Elijah Blake, Groove Armada, Zap Mama, Solange Knowles, Raheem DeVaughn, Natasha Bedingfield, Lemar, Kelis, Katy Perry, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, Sia and Valerie June.
What I'm Feelin' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton. It was released on March 25, 2016, by RCA Records.
"Sleeping with the One I Love" is a song recorded by American recording artist Fantasia for her fifth studio album, The Definition Of... (2016). Written and produced by R. Kelly, it was released on May 26, 2016 as the album's second single. Fantasia recorded the track as a way to expand her "rock soul" sound, which she had introduced on her previous release Side Effects of You (2013). She also used the song, and the album as a whole, to assert more creative control over her career.
