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...

Alicia J. Augello-Cook was born in Harlem, New York in 1981, and is known to the world as Alicia Keys. Her parents are Teresa Augello, a woman of Irish and Italian descent, and Craig Cook, a man of Jamaican heritage. Alicia Keys' parents...

Amerie Rogers was born in 1980 to an African American father and a Korean mother in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. However, she didn't settle long in the town as her father was a warrant officer in the military and the family traveled a lot...

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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Craig Ashley David was born in 1981 in Southampton, England. Craig David's parents are Tina, a Jewish shop assistant at Superdrug, and George David, a black Grenadian carpenter. Craig was raised by his mother after his parents separated ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Keyshia Miesha Cole was born in 1981 in Oakland, California. Her mother was African-American and her father was Italian-American. However, Keyshia's father is dead and her mother suffered a drug addiction that forced Keyshia to be adopte...

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 ...

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...

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...

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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

O'Ryan Omari Grandberry was born in 1987 in Los Angeles, California. The second of seven children in his family, O'Ryan is the younger brother to former B2K member and R&B singer Omarion.

Despite his family's strong involve...

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"...

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...

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.

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.

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...

Durrell Babbs, known to the music world as Tank, was born on January 1, 1976 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up in Clinton, Maryland, a suburb on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Living in Maryland, Tank worked his musical chomps in th...

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...

Trin-I-Tee 5:7 was started as an R&B trio in 1997, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The group was made up of Angel Taylor, Chanelle Hayes, and Terri Brown.

The group was signed to GospoCentric Records, as the label owner envision...

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'...