112 formed in Atlanta, Georgia and was initially a trio comprised of Daron Jones, Michael Keith and Reginald Finley. While the guys were in high school, they called themselves Forte and performed in talent shows at churc...

In its original form, 702 was comprised of the Grinstead sisters, LeMisha, Irish and Orish. While students at Cheyenne High School in Las Vegas, the girls would go to the lobby of Caesars Palace during boxing matches and...

Aaliyah Haughton was born in 1979 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Detroit. Aaliyah, which means “Highest Most Exalted,” was the daughter of Michael and Diane Haughton and was very close to her older brother Rasha...

Aaron Hall was born in 1964 in The Bronx, New York. He first established himself in the music industry as a member of the group Guy. The group was comprised of Hall, Teddy riley and Timmy Gatling and later on, Hall's bro...

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 ...

Alexander O'Neal was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1953. At the age of 20, O'Neal moved to Minneapolis where he played in a variety of musical groups. Alexander O'Neal performed in the groups The Mystics, Enterprise, and Flyte Tyme. ...

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.

Ann Nesby was born in Joliet, Illinois. Both of her parents sang, with her father in a quartet and his mother in a gospel group. Both practiced at the house and Ann's mother helped teach her how to utilize her vocal abil...

The preteen group Another Bad Creation was formed by Michael Bivins of New Edition and Bell Biv Devoe. The group formed out of Atlanta, Georgia and comprised of members Chris Sellers, Dave Shelton, Romell Chapman, Marlis...

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...

Atlantic Starr started in the early 1970s. At that time, the three Lewis brothers, David, Jonathan, and Wayne were leading their own bands - Newban, Exact Change, and Unchained Youth. The three brothers brought their ban...

B Angie B, Angela Boyd, was born in Morton, Mississippi in 1968. She sang in the local church and in 1984, graduated from Morton High School.

Angela decided to move out west to pursue a musical career with her ...

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...

Basic Black was an R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia comprised of Darryl (Denzo) Adams, Walter (Dis Mucho) Scott, Lloyd (Spec) Turner and Kelvin (K.B.) Bradshaw. The group had a sound that was similar to that of Guy, and...

Bell Biv DeVoe formed from the members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe of the group New Edition. The group began to form after Bobby Brown left New Edition and became a separate entity after the Heart Break t...

Lee 'Big Bub' Drakeford got his start with the New Jersey based quartet Today. When the group split in the early 1990s, Drakeford assumed the name Big Bub and began his solo career.

Big Bub released his debut a...

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 group Blaque is comprised of Natina Reed (born 1979), Shamari Fears (born 1981) and Brandi Williams (born 1982). The group's name stands for Believing in Life and Achieving a Quest for Unity in Everything, and was or...

Bobby Brown was born in 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts. He started singing with schoolmates Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell in 1980 and eventually, they brought Ralph Tresvant and Ronnie DeVoe into their group. The group be...

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...

Brandy Norwood was born in 1979 in McComb, Mississippi. Her family had strong musical ties as her father, Willie Norwood was a pastor, choir director and former R&B singer and her mother was a cousin of blues singer Bo D...

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 ...

Case Woodard was born in New York City and was signed to Def Soul records. He first started working in the R&B industry as a backup singer, working with big name R&B artists like Usher.

In 1996, Case released h...

Changing Faces is comprised of Cassandra Lucas of East Harlem, New York and Charisse Rose of Bronx, New York. The two girls met one another while studying at New York's Music and Art High School. Even so, the girls went ...

Cheryl 'Cherrelle' Norton was born in 1958 in Los Angeles, California. She is the cousin of Perri 'Pebbles' Reid and got her start in the industry after being discovered by Tabu Records founder Clarence Avant. Cherrelle'...

Troy Christopher Williams was born in 1967 in The Bronx, New York. Signed to Uptown Records, Williams first appeared on the scene in the late 1980s.

In 1989, Williams released his first album, Adventures in Par...

Chuckii Booker was born in 1962 in Los Angeles, California. While Booker was good at playing guitar and drums by the age of 14, he actually wanted to do graphic art than music. In 1984, Booker got his start recording mu...

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 ...

Michael 'D'Angelo' Archer was born in 1974 in Richmond, Virginia. He released his debut album, Brown Sugar, in 1995. The album slowly generated sales, only proving popular after the hit single 'Lady' began receiving a lo...

Deborah Cox was born in 1974 in Toronto, Ontario. Her parents are Guyanese but she has never met her biological father.

Deborah Cox got her start in the music industry as a backup vocalist for Celine Dion and get...

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.

...

Erica 'Erykah Badu' Wright was born in 1971 in Texas. Badu was a dance student at Booker T. Washington High in Dallas where she received the nickname “MC Apples” and was a member of a freestyle female rap duo.

...

Faith Renee Evans was born in 1973 in Lakeland, Florida. Her father left the family when she was very young and so Evans was raised by her mother and aunt in Newark, New Jersey. Her mother was eighteen w...

Freddie Jackson was born in October of 1956 in Harlem, New York. As Jackson grew up, he sang as a gospel singer at White Rock Baptist Church. At the church, he met Paul Laurence who would become his record producer.

Freddie...

Gerald LeVert was born in 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio and was part of a family with rich musical background. His father, Eddie LeVert Sr.'s success constantly loomed over the family as he was the lead singer in the O'Jays.

Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, known as Ginuwine, was born in 1970 in Washington, DC. He went to Prince Georges Community College in Largo, Maryland and got a paralegal degree.

His first break into the music industry wa...

Glenn Jones started his career as a gospel singer and has since, managed a successful move into the R&B field. He got his start in R&B in 1980 when Norman Connors featured Jones on a track on his album, Take It To The Li...

The group Groove Theory formed in 1991 when singer Amel Larrieux met rapper Bryce Wilson through a mutual friend. Forming in New York, the two found themselves perfect for each other as both were upset with the direction...

At the front of the New Jack movement was the group, Guy, who appeared on the scenes in 1987. The first incarnation of the group was made up of Aaron Hall and Timmy Gatling, both students at HBCU Virginia State Universit...

H-Town formed in Houston, Texas and consists of members Keven 'Dino' Conner, his fraternal twin Shazam and their friend Darryl 'G.I.' Jackson. For a long time, H-Town failed to find a break. They performed all kinds of g...

Hi-Five formed in 1990 in Waco, Texas and was comprised of members Tony Thompson, Roderick Clark, marcus Sanders, Russell Neal, and Toriano Easley. They were signed to Jive Records who helped them release their first alb...

Howard Hewett was born in 1955 in Akron, Ohio. He moved to Los Angeles, California when he reached his teens and worked as a dancer on Soul Train. Alongside fellow Soul Train dancers Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel, Hewet...

II D Extreme started out as a trio comprised of Randy Gill (Johnny Gill's brother), Jermaine Mickey and D'Extra Wiley. The group went unsigned until the single 'Cry No More' written and arranged by the guys, got into the...

Immature was created by record producer Chris Stokes. Its members were Marques 'Batman' Houston, Jerome 'Young Rome' Jones, and Kelton 'LDB' Kessee. All three of the group's members were born in 1981 and are native of Lo...

The trio Intro was comprised of lead singer Kenny Greene, Jeff Sanders and Clinton 'Buddy' Wike. The group's name is actually an acronym, standing for Innovative New Talent Reaching Out.

When the group released...

When the group Jade first formed, it was comprised of Joi Marshall, and women named Angie and Debbie. Thus, the group started with the name JAD. However, when Angie and Debbie were dropped from the label and replaced by ...

Jagged Edge formed in Atlanta, Georgia. The group is comprised of identical twins Brandon and Brian Casey, Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo, who was added by recommendation of Kandi Burruss of Xscape. Kandi took the group's...

Janet Damita Jo Jackson was born in 1966 in Gary, Indiana. She was the youngest of nine children to Katherine Esther and Joseph Walter Jackson and was raised in Encino, California. Her brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael ...

Jesse Powell was born in 1971 in Gary, Indiana. He grew up honing his musical abilities by singing with his family and in local talent shows. In 1993, Powell met producer Carl Roland in Kansas City and they traveled to L...

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...

Johnny Gill was born on May 22, 1966 in Washington, D.C. The son of a minister, Gill sang in a family gospel group at the age of five.

Gill began his solo career in 1983 when his friend, Stacy Lattisaw convince...

Jonathan 'Jon B' Buck was born in Rhode Island but raised in Pasadena, California. His grandparents owned a record store which guaranteed his immersion in music. He found himself especially listening to The Bee Gees, Ear...

Like many R&B artists, brothers Cedric 'K-Ci' and Joel 'JoJo' Hailey grew up singing in the church. Natives of North Carolina, they met Devante Swing and Mr. Dalvin as teenagers.

The group went to New York where they tried to sel...

Karyn White was born in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. The youngest of five children, she sang in the church choir as a child.

During college, White worked as a backing singer and sang on Jeff Lorber's 'Facts...

Keith Sweat was born in 1961 in Harlem, New York. In 1975, Sweat got his start in music with a Harlem band called 'Jamilah.' The group toured the Tri-State area and helped hone Sweat's singing abilities.

Signed...

Keith Washington rose to fame in the early 1990s with his first LP, Make Time for Love. Released in 1991, the album went gold and featured the #1 R&B hit'Kissing You.'The album featured three more singles 'Are You Still ...

Kelly Price was born in Queens, New York in 1973. As a child, her family struggled to make ends meet in Queens, where they often went hungry. Her father died when she was nine, and Price never really knew who he was.

She starte...

Kenny Lattimore first found his love of music while living in Washington D.C. He met Chaka Khan when he was just eight years old and was also heavily influenced by the sounds of Earth, Wind and Fire and Arethra Franklin....

Kut Klose was an R&B trio that formed in Atlanta, Georgia. The three females that made up the group were Athena Cage, Lavonn Battle and Tabitha Duncan. The girls were discovered by Keith Sweat who heavily produced their ...

Lauryn Hill was born in 1975 in New Jersey. She attended Columbus High School and was an active student, performing in talent shows. She acted in the TV show As The World Turns when sixteen, and had a role in Sister Act ...

Lorenzo Smith was born on May, 23 1972 in Havana, Florida. As a child, he sang in the churches and was an avid listener of Michael Jackson, El Debarge, James Brown and Sam Cooke. In high school, Lorenzo was active and competed in sports,...

LSG, short for LeVert, Sweat, Gill was an R&B trio comprised of Gerald LeVert, Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. The group took three big names in R&B and merged them together into one. In order to get an idea of the impressiveness of the gro...

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...

Michel'le Toussaint was born in 1970 and is most well-known for her hit single, 'No More Lies.' Michel'le is of Louisiana Creole heritage and got her start in the music industry when she was signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless R...

Alicia 'Miki' Howard was born in Chicago, Illinois and is the daughter of gospel singer Josephine Howard of the group The Caravans. Through her mother, Miki was able to meet stars like Aretha Franklin and Mavis Staples.<...

Milira got her start after winning a singing contest at the legendary Apollo Theater. Her success helped her get a recording contract with the Motown distributed Apollo record lbabel.

Her debut album, the self-...

Mint Condition formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the late 1980s. Comprised of members singer Stokley Wiliams, bassist Ricky Kinchen, guitarist Homer O'Dell, pianist Larry Waddell and keyboardist Jeffrey Allen, the grou...

The group Mista was formed by Organized Noize in the early 1990s and was a quartet of young male vocalists. The group is most well known because of its member, Bobby Valentino who continues to be a force in the industry ...

MoKenSef was a female R&B trio from Los Angeles, California. The group's name was based on the first syllables of each member's name: Monifa, Kenya and Stephanie.

The girls released a single album, Azz Izz in 1...

Monica Denise Arnold was born on October 24, 1980 in Atlanta. As a child, Monica sang in church like her mother.

Despite her young age, Monica came to prominence at fourteen in the year 1995 when producer Dall...

Monifah was raised in Spanish Harlem in Manhattan. Her family had a rich musical background and thus, encouraged her musical pursuits from an early age. Her mother would take her to audition for roles in musical theaters...

Montell Jordan was born in 1968 in Los Angeles, California. He attended Pepperdine University in California where he received a bachelor's degree in communication and joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He spent seven yea...

Mya Harrison was born in 1979 in Washington, D.C. Her mother is an Italian American and her father is a Jamaican American. She grew up in the area and studied singing and dancing.

In 1997, she signed with Haqq ...

N II U, pronounced 'Into You,' was comprised of Chuck Howard, Chris Herbert, Don Carlis, and Craig Hill. The group came out of New Jersey and released their self-titled debut album in 1994 on Arista.

The group ...

New Edition started in 1978 and originally comprised of Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell. The guys lived in the Orchard Park housing projects in Boston, Massachusetts. The group met a local manager named Brook ...

Next is comprised of R.L. Huggar, and brothers T-Low and Tweety and foremd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. R.L. met the brothers through their uncle who directed a gospel choir.

The group's debut album Rated Next wa...

Nicole Wray was born in July of 1981 in Salinas, California but grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. Wray met some of Missy Elliot's family in her neighborhood and through one of Elliot's cousins, got in touch with Missy Elliot. The two bega...

Perri 'Pebbles' Reid was born in 1966 and raised in Oakland, California. As a child, she was nicknamed 'Pebbles' because she resembled the cartoon character Pebbles Flintstone.

Pebbles started her music career ...

Public Announcement is oftentimes simplified into just R. Kelly. While R. Kelly was the lead singer on the group's debut CD Born Into the 90s the group was very much a sum of all of its parts.

The album, Born I...

Robert Sylvester Kelly was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1967. He was the eldest of four children and lived in the Southside Projects. In high school, Kelly performed in talent shows and had his dreams reinforced by a high school music te...

Ralph Tresvant was born in 1968 in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Tresvant joined Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronald DeVoe in a group formed by Maurice Starr. The group was designed to be a 'new edition' of the...

William Ray Norwood, Jr, known as Ray J, was born in January of 1981. The little brother of Brandy, Ray J seemed to follow in his sister's footsteps.

When Ray J was eight, he started doing commercials until comedian Sinbad saw ...

Ready For The World was an R&B/funk band from Flint, Michigan. The group formed in 1982 and was comprised of vocalist Melvin Riley, guitarist Gordon Strozier, keyboardist Gregory Potts, percussionist Willie Triplett, bassist John Eaton a...

Regina Belle was born in 1963 in Englewood, New Jersey. Engaged in music from a young age, she sang gospel music, and studied trombone, tuba and steel drums. Belle attended Rutgers University where she studied opera and ...

Jerome 'Rome' Woods was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1970. As a child he would sing along to his mother's soul records and joined the local church choir. While in high school, he joined an R&B cover group, Fire & I...

Helen Folasade Adu, known as Sade (pronounced shar-day), was born in January 1959 in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her father, Bisi Adu, was a Nigerian lecturer in economics and her mother, Anee Hayes, was an English nurse. When Sa...

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...

Shirley Murdock started her career as a gospel singer in her birthplace, Toledo, Ohio. Her career started changing direction however as singer Roger Troutman hired Murdock as a backing singer for his family's band, Zapp....

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.

Soul For Real formed in 1992 and was comprised of brothers Brian, Chris, Dre, and Jason Dalyrimple. Despite the time of the group's formation, the brothers had grown up singing together in church their entire life.

Soul II Soul was founded by Jazzie B and features a changing roster of musicians. The group started in the late 1980s in London. The group dominated the club scene and released their album Club Classics, Volume 1 to much...

Stephanie 'Sparkle' Edwards started out as a backing singer for Aaliyah and Mary J. Blige. However, via strong relations with R. Kelly, Sparkle released her self-titled debut album in 1998 on his Rockland Records.

Stephanie Mills was born on March 22, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York. Her music career got off to an early start as Mills starred in plays and won Amateur Night at the Apollo by the time she was 11.

In 1973, Mills ...

The Chicago based group Subway, was comprised of Eric McNeal, Keith Thomas, Trerail Puckett and Roy Jones. The group was signed to Michael Bivins Motown-distributed label Biv 10. They came out on the scenes in 1995 with ...

Sudden Change came onto the scenes in the early 1990s with their single 'Comin' On Strong.' The track performed strongly on the charts, reaching #20 on the R&B charts and #56 on the Hot 100. In 1995, the group's full alb...

Surface slowly formed over a long period of time as the group members met one another. Bernard Jackson moved from Stamford, Connecticut to live in New York with his cousin to pursue a music career. While touring the city...

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...

Tamia Washington-Hill was born in 1975 in Ontario, Canada. At the age of six, she began singing in church and by ten, had signed up to take vocal lessons. She aspired to be a vocal coach but during a chance trip to Los A...

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...

The Force M.D.s (with M.D. standing for musical diversity) were comprised of brothers Stevie D., Antoine "T.C.D." Lundy, their uncle, Jessie Lee Daniels and their friends Trisco Pearson and Charles "Mercury" Nelson. The group formed in...

The Good Girls formed in the late 80s in Los Angeles, California and was comprised of Joyce Tolbert, Shireen Crutchfield, and DeMonica Santiago. The group was signed to Motown Records and were groomed to be a new version...

The Rude Boys were comprised of Larry Marcus, Melvin Sephus, and brothers Edward Lee Banks and Joe Little III. The group was a new jack swing quartet that LeVert helped bring to public attention.

The group's fi...

The Time formed in 1981 and were closely affiliated with Prince, as they were assembled by him under a clause in his contract with Warner Brothers that allowed him to recruit artists for the label. Prince created the group as a pet proje...

TLC formed in 1991 and was originally called 2nd Nature. The group originated in Atlanta, Georgia and was originally comprised of Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins, Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes and Crystal Jones.

In 1991, Jones ...

Today formed in 1988 as Motown's attempt at promoting a new Four Tops. The group was comprised of Frederick Lee 'Bubba' Drakeford, Larry Singletary, Wesley Adams and Larry McCain, childhood friends from Englewood, New Je...

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 Terry was born in Washington D.C. and got his start in R&B as a back-up singer for the group Sweet Sensation.

In 1987, Terry got a deal with Epic Records. His album Forever Yours was released in 1988 and h...

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.

Total was an R&B trio comprised of members JaKima Raynor, Keisha Spivey and Pamela Long. The group was a part of Sean 'Puffy' Combs Bad Boy Records.

The groups first work together was backing Notorious B.I.G. T...

Tracie Spencer was born in 1976 in Waterloo, Iowa. She got her start in 1986 when she won the CBS television show Star Search. In the show, she sang Whitney Houston's 'How Will I Know.'

After winning the contes...

Troop formed in the late 80s in Pasadena, California. The group is comprised of childhood friends Steve russell, Allen McNeil, John Harreld, Rodney Benford and Reggie Warren. They got their first break into the industry ...

Tyrese Gibson was born in Los Angeles, California. He started his trek to stardom at the age of 14 when he won a talent show. He then appeared in a Coca-Cola advertisement, bringing him closer to the public eye. At 17, h...

Sam 'Uncle Sam' Turner is best known for signing a contract with Stonecreek Records, the label owned by Boyz II Men in the mid 1990s.

His album, the self-titled Uncle Sam was released in 1997. It is heavily lac...

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...

Whitney Houston was born in 1963 in New Jersey. Her mother, first cousin (Dionne Warwick) and godmother (Aretha Franklin) were all established Gospel/R&B/Soul singers. At the age of eleven, Houston began performing as a ...

The group Xscape formed in the early 1990s and was composed of sisters LaTocha 'Meatball' (born in 1973) and Tamika 'Juicy' (1975) Scott, as well as Kandi Burruss (1976) and Tameka 'Tiny' Cottle (1975). The Scott sister'...

Zhane, pronounced Jah-Nay as the group's first album so proudly declared, was comprised of members Renee Neufville of Jamaica and Jean Norris of Rhode Island. The two met when studying music at Temple University, and imp...