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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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,...

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 ...

Mona Lisa was born in 1979 in Yonkers, New York. Her mother was of African American/Native American descent and her father was Caucasian.

Mona Lisa scored a contract with Island Records where she recorded a...

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 ...

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...

Playa was a trio comprised of members Static, Smokey and Black. The group formed in Kentucky and based themselves on the group Jodeci. DeVante Swing of Jodeci was impressed with the group after hearing them perform backs...

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 ...

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...

Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox was born in 1973 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From an early age, Shanice was graced with fame, starring in a KFC commercial with Ella Fitzgerald when she was 9.

At the age of 11, Sh...

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...

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.

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.

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 ...

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...

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 Thompson was born on September 2nd, 1975 in Waco, Texas. He grew up in Oklahoma City where he sang in the local church choir, doing solos by the age of eight.

Thompson eventually caught the attention of a ...

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'...

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...