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...

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 ...

4.0 came out in 1997 with their self-titled debut. The group scored a hit with the track "Have A Little Mercy" which reached #28 on the R&B charts and #46 on the Hot 100, and was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

The vocal quartet 4Kast was a girl group comprised of Kisha, Kia, Sharissa and Tasha. Formed in New York, the girls started up in 1995 and were signed to RCA.

In 1998, 4Kast released their debut album Any Weather. The album fea...

4PM, also known as For Positive Music, formed in 1991 and was comprised of brothers Roberto Pena Jr. and Reney Pena, as well as Larry McFarland and Martiz Ware. Starting up in Baltimore, Maryland, the gr...

The group 7 Mile was one of two groups (the other being Allure) signed to Mariah Carey's Crave Records. The group was comprised of Luther 'Squeaky' Jackson, Glynis 'Lil' G' Martin, Seantezz 'Tezz' Robinson and Deion 'D' ...

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...

7669 was a female quartet that came out in the early 1990s. The group had production by Full Force and released their debut album, 7669 East From a Bad Block in 1993 on Motown. The album had two singles, "So High" and "Joy." The former r...

A Few Good Men was a vocal quartet signed to LaFace Records during the 1990s. The group first appeared on LaFace Family Christmas in 1993. In 1995, the group released their debut album, Take A Dip.

The group's ...

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...

Adina Howard was born in 1974 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prior to her music career, she was living in Mesa Arizona, where she met producers Ray Hunter and Ron Keel. Ray had wanted Adina to become a member of a girl group...

Adriana Evans, also known as Adriana Madera, was born in San Francisco, California and was one of the first Neo-Soul artists. She released her self-titled debut album in 1997 on RCA Records.

Adriana Evans was immersed in music...

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 ...

Albert Joseph Brown III, known to the music world as Al B. Sure! was born in 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up in Mount Vernon, New York, he made his first musical appearance with a friend on a soundtrack for Ses...

Alfonzo Hunter was born in 1973 in Chicago, Illinois. Hunter was the first artist to release an album on Def Squad Records, the label formed by Def Squad and Erick Sermon. Alfonzo Hunter released his debut album, Blacka da Berry, in 19...

Allure began when Alia Davis, Lalisha McLean and Akissa Mendez were studying at the LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. The girls wanted to expand their musical experience by forming a group and recruited Linn...

Alyson Williams was an R&B singer born in New York, New York. As the daughter of trumpeter Bobby Booker, Williams was immersed in music from a young age.

Williams began her career as a background vocalist, doing gigs for Curtis...

Angela 'Angie Stone' Brown was born in 1961 in Columbia, South Carolina. She started her career in the early 1980s as a member of The Sequence, one of the first female hip-hop groups. With the group, she released the tra...

Anne G. came onto the R&B scene on the tail end of the 80s/dawn of the 90s. Her debut album, On A Mission, came out in 1989 on Atlantic Records. She followed the album up with From The Heart in 1991.

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...

Art N' Soul was an R&B trio that came out in the mid 1990s. The group released their debut album, Touch Of Soul, in March of 1996. The album had a solid single with 'Ever Since You Went Away' which reached #19 on the R&B...

Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas was born in 1980 in Glen Cove, New York. Her parents were both active in the arts, with her mother, Tina Douglas, having worked as a dance teacher, and her father, Ken-Kaide Thomas Douglas as a former singer. ...

Myron Avant, known to the music world as Avant, was born on April 26, 1978 in Cleveland, Ohio. He went to the Cleveland School of the Arts where he majored in theater. After graduating in 1995, Avant had his first big success in the mu...

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 ...

Az-1 came out during the early 1990s and were one of the many new jack swing groups trying to make a move in the industry. The quartet was comprised of Shawn Harris, Jeff Gill, Martin Kember and LA Dre. The quartet released a single albu...

B2K was comprised of Omarion (Omari Grandberry, born 1984), Lil Fizz (Dreux Frederick, born 1985), Raz-B (DeMario Thornton, born 1985) and J-Boog (Jarell Houston, born 1985). The group was founded by Chris Stokes who also served as the...

B5 is an R&B group comprised of five brothers, a la Jackson Five. Originating in St. Petersburg, Florida, B5 is comprised of the Breeding Brothers, Dustin, Kelly, Patrick, Carnell and Bryan. Initially known as the TNT Boyz, the group c...

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...

Before Dark came out in the late 90s and were an R&B female trio comprised of Mia Lee, Arike Rice and Jeni Rice Genzuk (Jeni G). The girls were from South Central Los Angeles. Arike Rice was also in the group The Voices in the early 1990...

Beyonce Giselle Knowles (known as Beyonce in music) was born in Houston, Texas in 1981 to record manager Matthew Knowles and Tina Beyince, a costume designer. Matthew Knowles is African American while Tina is of Creole descent. Beyonce...

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...

BlackGirl formed in 1992 and was comprised of Pam Copeland, Nycolia 'Tye-V' Turman and Rochelle Stuart of Atlanta, Georgia. The group was signed to RCA records and released their debut album in 1994.

The girls de...

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...

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 ...

Bruce Saunders was a New Jack vocalist who came on the scene in 1992 on RCA. Saunders received many comparisons to Jodeci, with his vocal abilities being likened to those of JoJo. The album featured two charting singles,...

By Chance was an R&B quartet that came out in 1999. The group's debut album, Gotta Get That Lovin' came out that same year to little fanfare. The group's biggest hit, 'Baby It's On' only skimmed the R&B charts, as it pe...

Calvin Richardson was born in Monroe, North Carolina and was the first of nine kids. His mother sang in a local gospel group, and exposed Calvin to a wide variety of gospel music as a child. It was while Calvin was singi...

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 ...

Chantay Savage grew up in Chicago, Illinois and was the daughter of a jazz musician. Savage started her music career at an open mic contest which she won eight times and used to get gigs and to work as a session musician...

Chante Moore was born in 1967 in San Francisco, California. Her father was a gospel minister and so Moore spent a lot of time singing in the church.

In high school, Moore decided she wanted to be a singer after...

Cherokee released her debut album, I Love You...Me in 1999 on RCA. The album has a strong Neo-Soul feel to it as Cherokee sings about an abusive relationship. The album featured one charting single with Ooh Wee Wee, whic...

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'...

Jonathan Arthur 'Chico' DeBarge was born in 1966 in Grand rapids, Michigan. He was a member of the musical DeBarge family that spawned the groups DeBarge and Switch, as well as the successful solo career of El Debarge.

Chris Bender was born in 1972 in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts and later lived in Waltham.

Bender got an early start in the R&B industry, recording his first album, Baby Doll, at the age of 16. The...

Christopher Maurice Brown was bron in 1989 in Tappahannock, Virginia to Joyce Hawkins and Clinton Brown. Known to the music world as Chris Brown, Chris didn't realize he had vocal talents until he was eleven. Until then, he'd largely foc...

Christion was a male duo and the first R&B act to be signed to Jay Z's Roc A Fella records. The group released their single 'Full Of Smoke' on Roc A Fella Records in 1996 and faired well, reaching #53 on the Hot 100 and ...

The group Classic Example was a quintet that came out in the early 1990s. The group released their self-titled debut album in 1992 and emphasized romantic ballads over the typical in-your-face new jack style that was dom...

Coming of Age was an R&B quintet that came out in 1993 with their self-titled debut album. The album brought the group some recognition as their single, 'Coming Home To Love' reached #27 on the R&B charts. The album's se...

Cynda Williams was born in 1966 in Chicago, Illinois. She was known by her birth name, Cindy Williams, until she went into the movie industry, at which point she changed her name to Cynda in order to avoid conflicts with...

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...

Damage is a British R&B group that formed in the mid 1990s. The quintet was comprised of Andrez Harriott, Jade Jones, Coree Richards, Rahsaan J Bromfield and Noel Simpson and formed while the group was in school.

The group Dama...

Bruce Edward 'Damian' Broadus was born in 1966 in Marshall, Michigan. Damian had a rich musical background, teaching himself piano, drums and guitar. By the age of sixteen, Damian was playing in clubs.

During t...

Dave Hollister, cousin of music act K-Ci and JoJo, started developing fame as a musician in the early 1990s. Some of his biggest early appearances were with 2Pac on tracks like 'Brenda's Got A Baby.'

His next b...

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...

The group Destiny's Child has changed immensely over the years, beginning as a duo, eventualy becoming a quartet and later shrinking back down to a trio. The group formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. It initially was compr...

Divine was an R&B trio comprised of Kia Thornton, Nikki Bratcher, and Tonia Tash. When the girls first came onto the scenes in 1996, they were still teenagers. While in high school, they were recruited by Ruben Rodriguez of Pendulum Rec...

Donnell Jones was the son of a pastor and spent a lot of his childhood acting out in church. At eleven, his mother bought him a keyboard and he taught himself to play. With his father's influence as a gospel singer, Jone...

Double Action Theatre was a male quartet that came onto the scenes in 1991 with their self-titled debut album. The group worked with big name producers like D'La Vance who worked with Color Me Badd and Bell Biv DeVoe, an...

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 ...

Eboni Foster was born in Sacramento, California. She later moved to San Francisco, California where she performed in a variety of talent shows. At nine, she produced a demo tape and by fourteen, she was a member of the girl group Nuttin'...

Eldra Patrick 'El' DeBarge was born in 1961 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

El was part of a musically rich family which was discovered by Jermaine Jackson and signed to Motown. The group, known as DeBarge, had seve...

Elements of Life is a male R&B quartet that debuted in 1998. The group, based out of Washington, D.C, is comprised of Ike, Priest, Scooter and John.

The group Elements of Life came out in 1998 with their self-t...

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...

Ephraim Lewis was born in England, the last of eight children to Jabez Lewis, a Jamaican immigrant. Ephraim's father Jabez was an avid church-goer, attending the same church as the legendary Sam Cooke's father.

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.

...

Eternal formed in the early 1990s in London, United Kingdom and was a quartet of females. The group was comprised of Easther and Vernie Bennett and school friends, Kelle Bryan and Louise Nurding. The group is considered ...

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...

Faze was an R&B quartet that came out in 1991. The group released one album, Love Games, on RCA records. The album had one charting single with "Cold Sweat" reaching 81 on the R&B charts.

For Real was a female quartet comprised of Wendi Williams, Latanyia Baldwin, Josina Elder and Necia Bray. The group formed in 1992 and worked hard to get a record deal. The group finally managed to get signed when they s...

Francisco Javier Bautista Jr., known in music as Frankie J, was born in Tijuana, Mexico in 1978. Frankie J's native language is Spanish, though he moved to San Diego, California at the age of two when his uncle brought him to America.

Full Force is an R&B group from Brooklyn, New York. The group is comprised of brothers B-Fine (Brian George), Bow Legged Lou (Lucien George, Jr.), Paul Anthony (Paul Anthony George) and their cousins, Shy Shy (Junior Clark), Curt-T-T (...

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...

Goodfellaz was an R&B trio based out of New York. The group was comprised of Miami native De Louie, New Yorker Angel and Oakland native, Ray. Together, the group formed Goodfellaz and released their self-titled debut album, Goodfellaz, o...

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...

The group Ideal debuted in 1999 and is comprised of brothers Maverick and Swab, their cousin PZ and high school friend J-Dante. The Houston quartet burst on the scene in an effort to end the tiring trend of songs about l...

Jaheim Hoagland was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1978. He had a rough life early on, when his father died when Jaheim was only two years old. Growing up, Jaheim lived in public housing projects and depended on music to keep him u...

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...

John Stephens was born in 1978 in Cleveland, Ohio and is known in the music industry as John Legend. When he was three years old, John began to receive piano lessons from his grandmother and by seven, he was singing along in the church c...

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...

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...

Cynthia Loving, known in music as Lil' Mo, was born in 1978. As part of a military family, Lil' Mo moved around a lot as a child, growing up in Long Island, New York, as well as in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina.

Lil' Mo's ...

Lloyd Harlin Polite, Jr., known to the music world simply as Lloyd, was born in 1986 in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the young age of 11, Lloyd joined the group N-Toon, created by Joyce Irby of the 80s group Klymaxx. While the group rele...

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...

Mario Dewar Barrett was born in 1986 in Baltimore, Maryland and is known in R&B as Mario. He was raised by his grandmother in various parts of Baltimore, Maryland, as she also helped Mario's mother who was suffering from a drug problem. ...

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...

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...

Shaffer Chimere Smith, known to the world as Ne-Yo, was born in 1982 in Camden, Arkansas. His parents were African American and Chinese American.

Ne-Yo became a strong force in R&B music starting in the late 1990s when he began...

Omari Ishamel Grandberry, known as Omarion, was born in 1984. He was the lead singer for the hit group B2K until he went solo in 2005.

In 2005, Omarion released his debut album, O. The album had two hit singles with "Touch"...

Raheem DeVaughn was born in New Jersey to cellist Abdul Wadud and his mother Imani Smith. He grew up in Maryland where he showed a love for music at an early age. He got his first experience in the musician lifestyle when he'd visit his ...

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 ...

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...

Sammie Bush was born in Boynton Beach, Florida in 1987. As a young child, he was exposed to music, largely through the church. His mother had been a professional singer and brought Sammie along when she sang in the church choir.

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.

Mark 'Sisqo' Andrews was born in Baltimore, Maryland and formed a group with friends that became known as Dru Hill. The group released two platinum LPs in the late 90s, in large part to the lead singer Sisqo's presentati...

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.

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...

Tisha Campbell was born in 1968 in Oklahoma. She was raised in New jersey and became active in music at an early age. She appeared on childrens programs like Captain Kangaroo and won many singing competitions.

...

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 ...

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.

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...

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...

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'...