The U.S., U.K. and France launched targeted missile strikes on Syria in retaliation for an apparent chemical attack by the regime of Bashar al-Assad on a rebel town. President Donald Trump said the missile strikes were focused on chemical weapons sites and he made clear that the U.S. is prepared to sustain the strikes until Syria stops using those weapons.
Hmm…. is this because he’s being investigated?
I guess the United States will be at war.
Albert Leornes “Al” Greene (born April 13, 1946), often known as The Reverend Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including “Take Me to the River”, “Tired of Being Alone”, “I’m Still in Love with You”, “Love and Happiness” and his signature song, “Let’s Stay Together”. Inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, Green was referred to on the museum’s site as being “one of the most gifted purveyors of soul music”. He has also been referred to as “The Last of the Great Soul Singers”. Green was included in the Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, ranking at No. 65.
Al Green was born Albert Leornes Greene on April 13, 1946, in Forrest City, Arkansas. The sixth of ten children born to Cora Lee and Robert G. Greene, Jr., a sharecropper, Al began performing with his brothers in a group called the Greene Brothers at around the age of ten. The Greene family relocated to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the late 1950s. Al was kicked out of the family home while in his teens, after his religiously devout father caught him listening to Jackie Wilson.
“I also listened to Mahalia Jackson, all the great gospel singers. But the most important music to me was those hip-shakin’ boys: Wilson Pickett and Elvis Presley. I just loved Elvis Presley. Whatever he got, I went out and bought.”
In high school, Al formed a vocal group called Al Greene & the Creations. Two of the group’s members, Curtis Rodgers and Palmer James, formed an independent label called Hot Line Music Journal. In 1968, having changed their name to Al Greene & the Soul Mates, they recorded the song “Back Up Train”, releasing it on Hot Line Music. The song was a hit on the R&B charts. However, the group’s subsequent follow-ups failed to chart, as did their debut album, Back Up Train. While performing with the Soul Mates, Green came into contact with Memphis record producer Willie Mitchell, who hired him in 1969 to be a vocalist for a Texas show with Mitchell’s band. Following the performance, Mitchell asked Green to sign with his Hi Records label.
Having noted that Green had been trying to sing like Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett and James Brown, Mitchell became his vocal mentor, coaching him into finding his own voice. Before releasing his first album with Hi, Green removed the final “e” from his name. Subsequently, he released Green Is Blues, which was a moderate success. His follow-up album, Al Green Gets Next to You, featured the hit R&B cover of the Temptations’ “I Can’t Get Next to You”, recorded in a slow blues-oriented version. The album also featured his first significant hit, “Tired of Being Alone”, which sold half a million copies and was certified gold, becoming the first of seven consecutive gold singles Green would record in the next couple of years.
Green’s next album, Let’s Stay Together, solidified his place in soul music. The title track was his biggest hit to date, reaching number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. The album became his first to be certified gold. His follow-up, I’m Still in Love with You went platinum with the help of the singles “Look What You Done for Me” and the title track, both of which went to the top ten on the Hot 100. His next album, Call Me, released in 1973, produced three top ten singles: “You Ought to Be with Me”, “Call Me (Come Back Home)” and “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)”. Green’s album Livin’ for You, released at the end of 1973, was his last album to be certified gold.
In addition to these hit singles, Green also had radio hits with songs such as “Love and Happiness”, his cover of the Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, “Simply Beautiful”, “What a Wonderful Thing Love Is” and “Take Me to the River”, later covered successfully by new wave band Talking Heads and blues artist Syl Johnson. Green continued to record successful R&B hits in the next several years including “Livin’ for You”, “Let’s Get Married”, “Sha-La-La (Makes Me Happy)”, “L-O-V-E (Love)” and “Full of Fire”. By the time Green released the album, The Belle Album in 1977, however, Green’s record sales had plummeted, partially due to Green’s own personal issues during this time and his desire to become a minister. His last Hi Records album, Truth n’ Time, was released in 1978 and failed to become a success. Two years later, he left Hi for Myrrh Records and recorded only gospel music for the next decade and a half.
Green’s first gospel album, The Lord Will Make a Way, was released in 1980. The title song from the album would later win Green his first of eight Grammy Awards in the Best Soul Gospel Performance category. In 1982, Green co-starred with Patti LaBelle in the Broadway play, “Your Arms Too Short to Box with God”. His 1985 gospel album, He Is the Light reunited Green with Willie Mitchell while his 1987 follow-up, Soul Survivor, featured the minor hit, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”, which reached number 22 on the R&B chart, his first top 40 R&B hit since “I Feel Good” in 1978.
Green returned to secular music in 1988 recording “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” with Annie Lennox. Featured on the soundtrack to the movie, Scrooged, the song became Green’s first top 10 pop hit since 1974. Green had a hit in 1989 with “The Message is Love” with producer Arthur Baker. Two years later, he recorded the theme song to the short-lived show Good Sports. In 1993, he signed with RCA and with Baker again as producer, released the album, Don’t Look Back. Green received his ninth Grammy award for his collaboration with Lyle Lovett for their duet of “Funny How Time Slips Away”. Green’s 1995 album, Your Heart’s In Good Hands, was released around the time that Green was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The one single released from the album, “Keep On Pushing Love”, was described as “invoking the original, sparse sound of his [Green’s] early classics.”
In 2000, Green released his autobiography, Take Me to the River. Two years later, he earned the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and recorded a hit R&B duet with Ann Nesby on the song, “Put It On Paper”. Green again reunited with Willie Mitchell in 2003 for the album, I Can’t Stop. A year later, Green re-recorded his previous song, “Simply Beautiful”, with Queen Latifah on the latter’s album, The Dana Owens Album. In 2005, Green and Mitchell collaborated on Everything’s OK. His 2008 album, Lay It Down, was produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and James Poyser. It became his first album to reach the top ten since the early 1970s. The album featured a minor R&B hit with the ballad, “Stay with Me (By the Sea)”, featuring John Legend and also featuring duets with Anthony Hamilton and Corinne Bailey Rae. During an interview for promotion of the album, Green admitted that he would have liked to duet with Marvin Gaye: “In those days, people didn’t sing together like they do now,” he said. In 2009, Green recorded “People Get Ready” with Heather Headley on the album, Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration. In 2010, Green performed “Let’s Stay Together” on Later… with Jools Holland.
On October 18, 1974, shortly after Al Green Explores Your Mind was released, Mary Woodson White, a girlfriend of Green’s, assaulted him before committing suicide at his Memphis home. Although she was already married, White reportedly became upset when Green refused to marry her. At some point during the evening, White doused Green with a pan of boiling grits while he was bathing, causing severe burns on Green’s back, stomach and arms. She then found his .38 and killed herself. In her purse, police found a note declaring her intentions and her reasons.
Green cited the incident with White as a wake-up call to change his life. He became an ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis in 1976. Continuing to record R&B, Green saw his sales start to slip and drew mixed reviews from critics. In 1979, Green injured himself falling off the stage while performing in Cincinnati and interpreted this as a message from God. He then concentrated his energies towards pastoring his church and gospel singing. His first gospel album was The Lord Will Make a Way. From 1981 to 1989 Green recorded a series of gospel albums, garnering eight “soul gospel performance” Grammy Awards in that period. In 1985, he reunited with Willie Mitchell along with Angelo Earl for He Is the Light, his first album for A&M Records. In 1984, director Robert Mugge released a documentary film, Gospel According to Al Green, including interviews about his life and footage from his church.
In June 1977, Green married Shirley Kyles. They had three daughters together, Alva, Rubi and Kora. The marriage lasted until January 1983. Shirley later alleged that Green had been subjecting her to domestic violence throughout their marriage.
Green is a member of the Prince Hall Masons, the African-American wing of Freemasonry, at the Thirty-Third Degree.
Green resides and preaches in Memphis, Tennessee near Graceland.[26]
Green’s sister Maxine disappeared in September, 2013 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Written by Dianne Washington
Bokeem Woodbine (born April 13, 1973) is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Mike Milligan on the second season of Fargo. He will portray Herman Schultz/Shocker in Spider-Man: Homecoming. For his performance in Fargo, he won a Black Reel Award, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics’ Choice Television Award.
Bokeem Woodbine was born in Harlem, New York, on April 13, 1973. Woodbine attended the prestigious Dalton School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side before transferring to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in the city.
With the encouragement of his actress mother, Woodbine entered show biz at age 19 as a stand-in and extra in Ernest Dickerson’s directorial debut, the hip-hop classic Juice (1992), starring Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps. In the following year, he made his TV acting debut in the CBS Schoolbreak Special entitled “Love Off Limits.” His appearance was noticed by casting director Jaki Brown-Karman who later recommended him to Forest Whitaker for the latter’s directorial effort, the HBO television movie Strapped (1993). Since then, he has worked with other major African American filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Mario Van Peebles and the Hughes Brothers in the films Crooklyn (1994), Panther (1995) and Dead Presidents (1995), respectively.
In 1996 he appeared in Tupac’s music video for “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” and formed a friendship with the rapper. They subsequently reunited in Vondie Curtis-Hall’s directorial debut, Gridlock’d, which was released four months after Tupac’s death.
Entering the new millennium, Woodbine was featured as a regular on the NBC midseason sitcom Battery Park and played Dr. Damon Bradley, who later turned out to be a serial rapist, in the short-lived CBS medical drama City of Angels, the latter of which earned him a nomination for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Additionally, he appeared in the Wu-Tang Clan’s music videos for their songs “Protect Ya Neck”, “Gravel Pit”, and “Careful (Click, Click)”. Woodbine went to portray prolific saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman in the Taylor Hackford-directed and Jamie Foxx-starring Oscar-winning biopic Ray (2004), about legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles.
Over the next few years, Woodbine made minor appearances in both film and television. On the small screen, he could be seen in an episode of Fox’s ongoing crime-drama Bones and ABC’s short-lived cop drama The Evidence, as well as two episodes of Spike TV’s Blade: The Series, based on Marvel Comics’ character and popular film series. The next year, Woodbine appeared with his Blade: The Series co-star, Sticky Fingaz in his musical drama film A Day in the Life, starring Omar Epps and Mekhi Phifer, and two films by Jesse V. Johnson: the low-budget sci-fi/action movie The Last Sentinel (alongside Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Katee Sackhoff), and the action film The Butcher, opposite Eric Roberts. He also landed a series regular, as Leon Cooley, an inmate on death row, in the TNT crime/drama series Saving Grace, starring Academy Award–winning actress Holly Hunter in her first TV series.
In 2009 onward, Woodbine appeared in the blaxploitation film Black Dynamite and followed it up the next year with the M. Night Shyamalan-produced supernatural thriller Devil. He has also appeared as an officer on the critically acclaimed series Southland (2011). He next appeared in the 2012 remake of Total Recall and then Riddick the next year.
In December 2015, he received a Critics’ Choice Television Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries for his role as Mike Milligan in Fargo.
In June 2016, Woodbine was cast in the Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Homecoming as Shocker, one of four villains, alongside Michael Keaton, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Chernus.
In 2017, Woodbine appeared in the Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Homecoming, as Shocker, one of four villains, alongside Michael Keaton, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Chernus.
Written by Dianne Washington
On this date April 12 in 1975, Josephine Baker dies. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, she later took the name Baker from her stepfather. Surviving the 1917 riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, where the family was living, she ran away a few years alter at age thirteen and began dancing in vaudeville and on Broadway. In 1925, she went to Paris where, after the jazz revue La Revue Nègre failed, her comic ability and jazz dancing drew attention of the director of the Folies Bergère. She died of a stroke.
Herbie Hancock was born on this date in 1940. He is an African American musician, composer, and arranger.
From Chicago his parents weren’t professional musicians but lovers of the art form. His father was a bathtub singer and mother played a little piano. Hancock was always interested in music as a very young child, and began music lessons at seven. At the age of 11 he performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As a teenager at Hyde Park High School Hancock formed his own jazz band. He attended Grinnell College, majoring in engineering for two years, and then changed his major to music. He graduated from Grinnell in 1960 with a major in music composition where during he won an award for the best musical composition with a suite for six woodwinds.
After graduation, he left Iowa for New York City and at age 20, hooked up with trumpeter Donald Byrd. Byrd introduced him to Blue Note Records where Hancock recorded his first solo album in 1963, Taking Off, which included appearances by Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon. This album contained his first Top 10 hit, “Watermelon Man.” Soon Hancock got the attention of the legendary Miles Davis, who invited Hancock to join his new group. While working with Miles, Hancock was introduced to and developed an interest in funk, particularly James Brown and Sly Stone. After working with Davis for several years Hancock decided to form his own band — the Headhunters– a sextet that included Julian Priester, Buster Williams and Eddie Henderson.
With this group Hancock began to pioneer what would later be called fusion as he, through his original compositions, melded ideas of funk and rock with jazz. Hancock took this opportunity to introduce himself to synthesizers. The innovative Headhunters (1973) was the first album on which Hancock used a synthesizer. Up to that point his work was acoustic with the exception of a Rhodes Electric Piano. The album, which became the largest-selling jazz album in history, contained “Chameleon,” another of Hancock’s crossover hits. Incorporating synthesizers at this pace was mitigated by Hancock’s experience with electronics and aptitude for the subject. After a few years, Hancock returned to his roots as an acoustic pianist with the V.S.O.P. Quintet, a recreation of Miles’ band (without Miles), and several other jazz artists. In 1983, Hancock released Future Shock, which was both a pioneer electronic piece but also a hit on both R&B and dance charts. The single “Rock It” won Grammy for best R&B Instrumental, and the album went gold.
Hancock released Dis is Da Drum in 1994, which reverberates with West African rhythms. In 1997 Hancock released 1+1, a duet session with saxophonist Wayne Shorter. The following year he reunited with his old Headhunter band mates, to record, Return of the Headhunters. Since then he has recorded Future2Future LIVE DVD. and THE HERBIE HANCOCK BOX. A definitive 4-CD retrospective spanning 17 years, sampling 25 albums & Herbie’s vast musical world! In 2003, Hancock with Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove traveled as “Directions In Music (Celebrating Miles Davis & John Coltrane)”.
In June 2010 Hancock released The Imagine Project. On June 5, 2010 Hancock received an Alumni Award from his alma mater, Grinnell College. On July 22, 2011, at a ceremony in Paris, Hancock was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of Intercultural Dialogue. In 2013 Hancock joined the University of California, Los Angeles faculty as a professor in the UCLA music department where he will teach jazz music. On December 8, 2013 he was given the Kennedy Center Honors Award for achievement in the performing arts with artists like Snoop Dogg and Mixmaster Mike from the Beastie Boys performing his music.
Hancock appeared on the 5th Flying Lotus studio album, You’re Dead, released in October 2014.
Hancock is the 2014 Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. Holders of the chair deliver a series of six lectures on poetry, “The Norton Lectures”, poetry being “interpreted in the broadest sense, including all poetic expression in language, music, or fine arts.” Previous Norton lecturers include musicians Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky and John Cage. Hancock’s theme is “The Ethics of Jazz.”
Since 1972, Hancock has practiced Nichiren Buddhism as a member of the Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International. As part of Hancock’s spiritual practice, he recites the Buddhist chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo each day.
In 2013, Hancock’s dialogue with musician Wayne Shorter and Soka Gakkai International president Daisaku Ikeda on jazz, Buddhism and life was published in Japanese.
Written by Dianne Washington
On this date in 1981 Joe Louis, heavyweight boxing champion, dies at the age of 66. He held the world title for a record 12 years and won 68 of his 71 professional fights.
Grace Beverly Jones (born May 19,1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, supermodel, record producer, and actress. Born in Jamaica, she moved when she was 13, along with her siblings, to live with her parents in Syracuse, New York. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves St. Laurent and Kenzo, and appearing on the covers of Elle and Vogue. She worked with photographers such as Jean-Paul Goude, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, and Hans Feurer, and became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features.
In 1977, Jones secured a record deal with Island Records, initially becoming a star of New York City’s Studio 54-centered disco scene. In the early 1980s, she moved toward a new wave style that drew on reggae, funk, post-punk and pop music, frequently collaborating with both the graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude and the musical duo Sly & Robbie. Her most popular albums include Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing (1981), and Slave to the Rhythm (1985). She scored Top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart with “Pull Up to the Bumper”, “I’ve Seen That Face Before”, “Private Life”, and “Slave to the Rhythm”. In 1982, she released the music video collection A One Man Show, directed by Goude.
Jones appeared in some low-budget films in the US during the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1984, she made her first mainstream appearance as Zula in the fantasy-action film Conan the Destroyer alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sarah Douglas, and subsequently appeared in the 1985 James Bond movie A View to a Kill as May Day. In 1986, she played a vampire in Vamp, and acted in and contributed a song to the 1992 Eddie Murphy film Boomerang. She appeared alongside Tim Curry in the 2001 film Wolf Girl. For her work in Conan the Destroyer, A View to a Kill, and Vamp, she was nominated for Saturn Awards for Best Supporting Actress.
In 1999, Jones ranked 82nd on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll, and in 2008, she was honored with a Q Idol Award. Jones influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s and has been an inspiration for artists including Annie Lennox, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Lorde, Róisín Murphy, Brazilian Girls, Nile Rodgers, Santigold, and Basement Jaxx. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 40th most successful dance artist of all time.
Written by Dianne Washington
On this day in 1989, Sugar Ray Robinson, five-time winner of the world middleweight boxing championship and unbeaten welterweight champion, dies.
Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr.; May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. Widely considered the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time, Robinson’s performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create “pound for pound” rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2002, Robinson was ranked number one on The Ring magazine’s list of “80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years”.
Robinson was 85–0 as an amateur with 69 of those victories coming by way of knockout, 40 in the first round. He turned professional in 1940 at the age of 19 and by 1951 had a professional record of 128–1–2 with 84 knockouts. From 1943 to 1951 Robinson went on a 91 fight unbeaten streak, the third longest in professional boxing history. Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951, and won the world middleweight title in the latter year. He retired in 1952, only to come back two and a half years later and regain the middleweight title in 1955. He then became the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times (a feat he accomplished by defeating Carmen Basilio in 1958 to regain the middleweight championship). Robinson was named “fighter of the year” twice: first for his performances in 1942, then nine years and over 90 fights later, for his efforts in 1951.
Renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, Robinson is credited with being the originator of the modern sports “entourage”. After his boxing career ended, Robinson attempted a career as an entertainer, but it was not successful. He struggled financially until his death in 1989. In 2006 he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service.
Written by Dianne Washington
Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), known professionally as Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career, and has won 11 Grammy Awards.
Edmonds was born on April 10, 1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin and Barbara Edmonds. Barbara was a production operator at a pharmaceutical plant. Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers (including future After 7 band members Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, the latter of whom went on to have a modestly successful solo career), attended North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and as a shy youth, wrote songs to express his emotions. When he was in eighth grade, Edmonds’ father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to raise her sons alone. At this stage, Edmonds became determined to have a career in music.
Edmonds later played with funk performer Bootsy Collins, who tagged him “Babyface” because of his youthful look. He also performed in the group Manchild (which had a 1977 hit “Especially for You” with band member Daryl Simmons) as a guitarist. He played keyboards in the light-funk and R&B group the Deele (which also included drummer Antonio “L.A.” Reid, with whom he would later form a successful writing and producing partnership). One of his first major credits as a songwriter for outside artists came when he wrote the tune “Slow Jam” for the R&B band Midnight Star in 1983. The tune was on Midnight Star’s 1983 double-platinum No Parking on the Dance Floor album, and while it never was a single, it received massive radio airplay and the song is still played on quiet storm radio stations. Babyface remained in the Deele until 1988, when both he and Reid left the group.
His album Playlist consists of eight cover songs and two original works. It was released on September 18, 2007. It was the first album on the newly re-launched Mercury Records label.
On February 4, 2014, he released a Grammy Award-winning duet album with Toni Braxton titled Love, Marriage & Divorce on Motown Records.
In the late 1980s, he contributed to the creation of new jack swing, writing and producing music for the likes of Bobby Brown, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul and Sheena Easton.
In 1989, Edmonds co-founded LaFace Records with Reid. Three of the label’s early artists TLC, Usher, and Toni Braxton were very successful. TLC’s second album CrazySexyCool, for which he wrote and produced some of the hits, became the best selling album of all time by an American girl group. Under his direction, TLC was able to sell more than 60 million albums worldwide, and a combined total of 75 million records. Toni Braxton’s first two albums, Toni Braxton (1993) and Secrets (1996), for which he wrote the majority of the songs, went on to sell a combined total of over 10 million copies in America alone.
Babyface helped form the popular late-1990s R&B group Az Yet. Edmonds also helped to mold and work with some of his then-wife Tracey Edmonds’ acts, such as Jon B and producer Jon-John Robinson.
Edmonds has worked with many successful performers in contemporary music. “I’m Your Baby Tonight” (1990), produced for Whitney Houston, was his first No. 1 Top 40 hit in the US. He also wrote and produced Boyz II Men’s 1992 “End of the Road” and 1994 “I’ll Make Love to You”, both of which established records for the longest stay at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He co-wrote, co-produced, and provided backing vocals on Madonna’s 1994 Bedtime Stories, which featured the seven-week No. 1 hit “Take a Bow”, and shared billing with Eric Clapton on the chart-topping Grammy winner “Change the World” from the Phenomenon soundtrack. He also wrote and produced the No. 1 hit “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” for Whitney Houston as well as the rest of the critically acclaimed 10 million-selling Waiting to Exhale soundtrack in 1995, which spawned additional hits for Houston, Brandy and Mary J. Blige.
Additionally, Edmonds has produced and written music for many artists including Carole King, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Faith Evans, Al Green, Beyoncé, Diana Ross, Sheena Easton, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Michael Bolton, Paula Abdul, Eric Clapton, Pebbles, Tevin Campbell, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Tamia, Shola Ama, 3T, Sisqó, Dru Hill, Fall Out Boy, Céline Dion, Samantha Jade, Backstreet Boys, Honeyz, Katharine McPhee, Mariah Carey, Vanessa L. Williams, Chanté Moore, En Vogue, Zendaya, Kenny G, Kristinia DeBarge, Lil Wayne, Japanese singer Ken Hirai, P!nk, Colbie Caillat, Marc Nelson, TLC, Ariana Grande, Ella Henderson, Jessica Mauboy, Xscape, K-Ci & JoJo, NSYNC, Jordin Sparks and Phil Collins among others. He received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year from 1995 to 1997.
Babyface was in the studio for about two years with Ashanti to produce her album The Declaration (2008).
He worked on the Lil Wayne album Tha Carter III (2008), on the Kanye West-produced “Comfortable”. He also worked with R&B singer Monica for her sixth studio album Still Standing (2010).
In 2013, Babyface served as producer for Ariana Grande’s debut album Yours Truly, producing the majority of her songs, including her second single, “Baby I”.
In September 2014, Babyface collaborated with Barbra Streisand on her album Partners, performing a duet on the track “Evergreen” and background vocals for other album tracks.
Babyface also collaborated with Foxes on her sophomore album, All I Need (2016), producing and co-writing “Scar”.
In July 2016, Babyface along with Bruce Roberts and Carole Bayer Sager helped write the song, “Stronger Together” sung by Jessica Sanchez. The song was played after Hillary Clinton’s speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The song’s title is named after the slogan that the Clinton campaign uses as a show of uniting behind the Democratic nominee. The song was one of the top trending songs on Shazam that week. The song was widely perceived as positive by the listeners, and even received praise by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian.
In 1994, he appeared and performed on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “Mr. Walsh Goes to Washington (Part 2)”.
In the mid-1990s, Edmonds and his then-wife Tracey Edmonds expanded into the business of motion pictures, setting up Edmonds Entertainment Group and producing films such as Soul Food (1997), Josie and the Pussycats (2001), and also the soundtrack for the film The Prince of Egypt (1998), which included contributions from numerous artists, including Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. They also executive produced the BET reality series College Hill (2004-2009). Edmonds also worked with David Foster to compose “The Power of the Dream”, the official song of the 1996 Summer Olympics, performed by superstar Céline Dion. Linda Thompson provided the lyrics.
Babyface also participated as a duet partner on the Fox reality show Celebrity Duets (2006).
He was portrayed by Wesley Jonathan in the 2015 Lifetime biopic Whitney and is portrayed by actor Gavin Houston in the Lifetime biopic based on Toni Braxton entitled Un-Break My Heart, which premiered on the network in early 2016.
On August 30, 2016, Babyface was revealed as one of the celebrities who will compete on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Allison Holker. He and Holker were eliminated on the fourth week of competition and finished in 11th place along with Vanilla Ice and Witney Carson.
Edmonds founded his record label Soda Pop Records in 2009. Since founding the label he has signed R&B icons K-Ci & JoJo, releasing their first album for the label entitled My Brother’s Keeper. In 2013 Babyface secured a distribution deal with E1 Music for the label.
Babyface married his first wife, Denise during his young adult years. In 1990, Babyface met Tracey Edmonds when she auditioned for the music video for his song “Whip Appeal”. They married on September 5, 1992, and have two sons, Brandon and Dylan. On January 7, 2005, Tracey filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences. In October 2005, Babyface and Tracey announced that they were ending their marriage of thirteen years.
In 2007, Babyface began dating his backup dancer Nicole “Nikki” Pantenburg (former backup dancer for and personal friend of Janet Jackson). In 2008, Babyface and Nicole welcomed a daughter. The pair married on May 17, 2014.
In 2015, Babyface donated money to the presidential campaign of Republican Senator Marco Rubio.
In 1999, a 25-mile (40-km) stretch of Interstate 65 that runs through Indianapolis was renamed Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds Highway.
Written by Dianne Washington
Little Stevie Wonder.
Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. A child prodigy, he is considered to be one of the most critically and commercially successful musical performers of the late 20th century. Wonder signed with Motown’s Tamla label at the age of 11, and he continued performing and recording for Motown into the 2010s. He has been blind since shortly after birth.
Among Wonder’s works are singles such as “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”, “Superstition”, “Sir Duke”, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You”; and albums such as Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. He has recorded more than 30 U.S. top ten hits and received 25 Grammy Awards, one of the most-awarded male solo artists, and has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the top 60 best-selling music artists. Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2013, Billboard magazine released a list of the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart’s 55th anniversary, with Wonder at number six.
Written by Dianne Washington