Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Throughout his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA-certified platinum albums and sold over 40 million records worldwide. Known as the "Velvet Voice", Vandross has been recognized as one of the 200 greatest singers of all time (2023) by Rolling Stone, as well as one of the greatest R&B artists by Billboard. In addition, NPR named him one of the 50 Great Voices. He was the recipient of eight Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year in 2004 for a track recorded not long before his death, "Dance with My Father". In 2021, he was posthumously inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who Rolling Stone described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include "The Ghetto", "This Christmas", "Someday We'll All Be Free", and "Little Ghetto Boy". Hathaway is also renowned for his renditions of "A Song for You", "For All We Know", and "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", along with "Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", two of many collaborations with Roberta Flack. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and won one Grammy Award from four nominations. Hathaway was also posthumously honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Dutch director David Kleijwegt made a documentary called Mister Soul – A Story About Donny Hathaway, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2020.
"I Know Him So Well" is a duet from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It was originally sung by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson. In this duet, two women – Svetlana, the Russian chess champion's estranged wife, and Florence, his mistress – express their bittersweet feelings for him and at seeing their relationships fall apart.
Mario Dewar Barrett, known mononymously as Mario, is an American R&B singer. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, he signed a record deal with J Records at the age of 14 and released his self-titled debut studio album (2002) to commercial success. It contained the Billboard Hot 100-top five single, "Just a Friend 2002." His second album, Turning Point (2004) was supported by the single "Let Me Love You," which peaked atop the chart, won two Billboard Music Awards, received a Grammy Award nomination, and remains his most commercially successful release.
"You Don't Know Me" is a song written by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker in 1955. "You Don't Know Me" was first recorded by Arnold that year and released as a single on April 21, 1956, on RCA Victor. The best-selling version of the song is by Ray Charles, who took it to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1962, after releasing the song on his number 1 album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. The first version of the song to make the Billboard charts was by Jerry Vale in 1956, peaking at number 14 on the pop chart. Arnold's version charted two months later, released as an RCA Victor single, 47–6502, backed with "The Rockin' Mockin' Bird", which reached number 10 on the Billboard country chart. Cash Box magazine, which combined all best-selling versions at one position, included a version by Carmen McRae that never appeared in the Billboard Top 100 Sides listing.
"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
Benjamin "BeBe" Winans is an American gospel and R&B singer from Detroit, Michigan. He is a member of the noted Winans family, most members of which are also gospel artists. Winans has released nine albums, seven with his sister CeCe as BeBe & CeCe Winans and one with three Winans brothers.
Urban Legend is the third studio album by American rapper T.I., released on November 30, 2004, through Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, selling 193,000 copies in its first week of release. It also debuted at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and the Top Rap Albums charts.
King, is the fourth studio album by American rapper T.I., released on March 28, 2006, through Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. Recording sessions for the album took one and a half years to complete in late 2005 according to T.I. in an interview with MTV News. Production was handled by several high-profile record producers, including DJ Toomp, Just Blaze, Mannie Fresh, Swizz Beatz, Keith Mack, Travis Barker, The Neptunes, Kevin "Khao" Cates, Nick "Fury" Loftin, and Tony Galvin, among others. The album also serves as the soundtrack to T.I.’s feature film debut, ATL.
"I Don't Know How to Love Him" is a song from the 1970 album and 1971 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), a torch ballad sung by the character of Mary Magdalene. In the opera she is presented as bearing an unrequited love for the title character. The song has been much recorded, with "I Don't Know How to Love Him" being one of the rare songs to have had two concurrent recordings reach the top 40 of the Hot 100 chart in Billboard magazine, specifically those by Helen Reddy and Yvonne Elliman, since the 1950s when multi-version chartings were common.
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him." It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958, while reaching No. 2 on the UK's New Musical Express chart. Peter & Gordon and Bobby Vinton later had hits with the song, with its title and lyrics changed to "To Know You Is to Love You". In 1987, the song was resurrected by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, whose Trio recording topped the U.S. country singles chart.
Live in Cook County Jail is a 1971 live album by American blues musician B.B. King, recorded on September 10, 1970, in Cook County Jail in Chicago. Agreeing to a request by jail warden Winston Moore, King and his band performed for an audience of 2,117 prisoners, most of whom were young black men. King's set list consisted mostly of slow blues songs, which had been hits earlier in his career. When King told ABC Records about the upcoming performance, he was advised to bring along press and recording equipment.
Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant, better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He writes songs for artists in R&B and hip hop, often in tandem with production partner Tricky Stewart. Beginning with I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), he has been credited on each of American singer Beyoncé's subsequent albums.
Act Like You Know is the third studio album by American hip hop recording artist MC Lyte. It was released on September 17, 1991, by First Priority Music, distributed by Atlantic Records, and featured production from Audio Two, The 45 King, Ivan "Doc" Rodriguez, The King of Chill, Pal Joey, Epic Mazur, Richard Wolf and DJ Master Tee.
"I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" is an R&B song written and recorded by American singer Barbara George, released as her debut single in 1961. It became her signature song and her only major hit in United States, reaching No.1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and No.3 in the Hot 100. It was later covered by various artists, inducing Fats Domino, Cher, Ike & Tina Turner, and Bonnie Raitt. A Spanish version by Marisela topped Billboard's Latin chart in 1988. The Shirelles borrowed the melody of "I Know" for their 1963 cover of "Everybody Loves A Lover".
"You Know I Love You" is a song written and recorded by B.B. King. Released on RPM Records in 1952, it was King's second No. 1 single on the Billboard R&B chart. King's friend and collaborator Ike Turner played piano on the original recording. The song was included on King's debut album Singin' The Blues in 1957.
"You've Got to Love Her with a Feeling", or "Love with a Feeling" as it was originally titled, is a blues song first recorded by Tampa Red in 1938. Numerous blues artists have interpreted and recorded the song, making it a blues standard. When Freddie King adapted it in 1961, it became his first single to appear in the record charts.
"You Don't Love Me" is a rhythm and blues-influenced blues song recorded by American musician Willie Cobbs in 1960. Adapted from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "She's Fine She's Mine", it is Cobbs' best-known song and features a guitar figure and melody that has appealed to musicians in several genres.
P.J. Morton is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been the keyboardist for the pop band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring member in 2010 and became an official member in 2012 after Jesse Carmichael went on indefinite hiatus.
"Mother Love" is a song by Queen, from the album Made in Heaven, released in 1995 after Freddie Mercury's death in 1991. It was written by Mercury and Brian May. Mercury recorded two out of three verses before becoming too sickly to continue recording, so May recorded the final verse himself later.
