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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

Jason Weaver was born on July 18, 1970 in Chicago, Illinois. From childhood, he was immersed at music as his mother, Kitty Haywood worked as a studio singer.

While Weaver has worked as a singer, he's had his most success in act...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Vanessa Williams was born in 1963 in Millwood, New York. In a prophetic manner, her parents put 'Here she is: Miss America' on her birth announcement. Both of her parents were music teachers with advanced degrees and her...

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 ...

Brooklyn singer, Will Downing, was born in 1963 and appeared on the scenes in the early 1980s. Singing with Arthur Baker's group, Wally Jump Junior, Downing then used Baker as a producer when he was signed to Island Reco...