3rd Storee formed in 1997 in South-Central Los Angeles, California and was comprised of three members, Kevontay, D'Smoove, and Jay-R. The group sought to succeed groups like New Edition and The Jackson Five, and were given that chance ...

After 7 formed in 1988 and was comprised of brothers Melvin and Kevon Edmonds and Keith Mitchell. The Edmonds brothers are older siblings of Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds. Keith Mitchell was actually marketed as the cousin ...

Anita Baker was born in 1958 in Toledo, Ohio. She grew up in Detroit, Michigan where she sang in the choir. At the age of 16, Anita joined a band, Humanity, which included her friends and performed around the city.

Anthony Hamilton was born in 1971 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He left North Carolina in 1993 and moved to New York City where he signed onto Uptown Records.

During the 1990s, he struggled to make an impact on the industry. He...

The group Az Yet was created over a long period of time. Shawn Rivera and Dion Allen met in 1990 and decided to form a group in Philadelphia. While in search for quality singers to join their group, the two men stumbled ...

Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1958. He is the 5th in a family of six sons and attended North Central High School.

Babyface got his nickname when playing in a funk band with Boots...

After the trio Guy broke up, Teddy Riley began perfecting his production abilities and founded the group Blackstreet. He created the group in 1994, which was comprised of himself, Chauncey 'Black' Hannibal, Levi Little a...

The Philadelphia quartet, Boyz II Men also seen as Boyz 2 Men, Boys II Men and Boys 2 Men, formed at the High School of the Creative and Performing Arts in 1988. It star...

Brian McKnight was born in Buffalo, New York. He had strong musical roots, singing in the church choir and acting as a bandleader in high school. While in his early teens, he began penning instrumentals. He formed his ow...

The group Brownstone was originally comprised of Nicole 'Nicci' Gilbert, Charmayne 'Maxee' Maxwell and Monica 'Mimi' Doby. They met one another after going to various auditions around Los Angeles and formed a group. The ...

Color Me Badd came out of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the early 1990s and was comprised of members Bryan Abrams, Mark Calderon, Kevin Thornton and Sam Watters. The group was discovered by Kool & The Gang's Robert Bell in ...

Dru Hill was founded by Tamir 'Nokio' Ruffin in Baltimore in 1992. The group consisted of himself, lead singer Mark 'Sisqo' Andrews, Larry 'Jazz' Anthony and James 'Woody' Green. The group got their chance at success in ...

En Vogue formed in 1988 in Oakland, California. The members of the group were former Miss Black California Cindy Herron, Maxine Jones, Dawn Robinson and Terry Ellis. The group formed when producers denzil Foster and Thom...

Eric Benet Jordan was born in 1966 in Wisconsin. His mother's maiden name is his middle name. Growing up, Benet was immersed in music as his father loved classical music and shared the experience with his son.

...

The bad boy group Jodeci was made up of two sets of brothers: Cedric 'K-Ci' and Joel 'Jo Jo' Hailey and Dalvin and Donald 'DeVante Swing' DeGrate. All four members of the group had strong ties with the Pentecostal church...

Joe Thomas grew up in Opelika, Alabama and was the son of two preachers. He grew up singing in the choir, playing guitar and eeven directing the choir at his church.

Because of his roots in the church, Joe was in...

Luther Vandross Jr. was born in 1951 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. When Vandross was eight, his father died of diabetes. At thirteen, Vandross and his family moved to the Bronx. At roughly the same time,...

Marc Nelson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the son of Phyllis Nelson, known for the dance hit 'I Like You.' He was a member of Boyz II Men while still attending Philadelphia's High School of Performing Art...

Mariah Carey was born in Long Island, New York to the former opera singer Patricia Hickey and Alfred Roy Carey. Her mother is Irish American and her father is of African-American and Venezuelan descent. The third and you...

Mary J Blige was born in 1971 in the Bronx, New York. Mary's father left her family when she was only four years old, leaving her, her sister and their mother to fend for themselves. The family moved to Yonkers a few yea...

Maxwell is an R&B neo-soul singer who was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1973. Maxwell is actually the singer's middle name, but he has kept his first and last name private in order to protect his family. His father died ...

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in 1958 in Gary, Indiana. As the seventh child in the Jackson family, Michael endured a great deal of abuse as a child. His father, Joseph would demand constant music rehearsals from the children and would...

The group Shai was formed by students at Howard University in Washington D.C. Three of its members, Marc Gay, Carl Martin and Darnell Van Rensalier were members of the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha and the fourth was a good...

Silk came out on the scene in 1992 and is comprised of members Timothy Cameron, Jimmy Gates Jr., Jonathen Rasboro, Gary Jenkins and Gary Glenn. The popular singer, Keith Sweat had been the one to discover the group.

SWV, or Sisters With Voices formed in 1990 as a group of three school friends. The group consisted of members Cheryl 'Coko' Gamble-Clemons (born 1974), Tamara 'Taj' Johnson-George (1974) and Leanne 'Lele...

Sananda Maitreya, born under the name Terence Trent Howard, and most well-known by his performing name, Terence Trent D'Arby was born in 1962. Born in Manhattan, New York, D'Arby joined the army after ...

Tevin Campbell was born in 1976 in Dallas, Texas. He first appeared on the scene in the hit single 'Tommorow (A Better You Better Me)' which was released in 1989 and reached #1 on the R&B charts in 1990. The single was t...

Toni Braxton was born in 1966 in Severn, Maryland. She is the oldest of six children and went to Glen Burnie High School. Her father was a clergyman, and as such, Braxton's first experience was singing with a church choi...

Tony! Toni! Tone! formed in Oakland, California and was composed of D'Wayne Wiggins on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Raphael Wiggins (Rapael Saadiq) on lead vocals and bass and cousin Timothy Christian on drums.

Usher Raymond IV was born in 1978 to parents Usher Raymond III and Jonetta Patton in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Raised by his mother, he moved to Atlanta Georgia as a child. Getting his start in the church choir, Usher bega...