Jon B.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jon B. (born Jonathan David Buck November 11, 1974 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island) is a Grammy nominated American R&B singer and songwriter. He is also referred to as Boogotti.
Raised in Rhode Island, Buck was born to a musical family, where his father David, is a professor of music, mother Linda, a concert pianist and his siblings Deborah, is a violinist and his brother Kevin, a cellist. He first started singing at the age of four, and learned piano and keyboard by nine. By 16, he played bass and drums as well. Because his grandparents also owned a record store, Buck was raised on a varied musical diet that included many African-American influences like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder.
By 18, Jon B. was shopping demos around when he caught the attention of Tracey Edmonds, then owner of Yab-Yum Records. He was contracted as a songwriter for Tracey and her husband, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and wrote songs for After 7, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Color Me Badd and others. In 1995, Jon B. released his debut album, Bonafide, under Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Records. The album contained the Top Ten hit "Someone To Love," a collaboration with Babyface that gained wide exposure on the Bad Boys soundtrack. The Grammy-nominated track highlighted his dulcet tenor voice and garnered Jon comparisons to Babyface himself. The song "Pretty Girl" was also a minor hit.
In 1997, Jon released his sophomore album, Cool Relax. The album contained three of Jon's biggest hits; "They Don't Know", "Are U Still Down" featuring Tupac Shakur, and "I Do (Whatcha Say Boo)". Cool Relax was hailed as one of the best R&B albums released that year, and was certified platinum. While on tour promoting Cool Relax, he formed a group with two of his back-up singers, Dominiquinn and Silky Deluxe, named Jack Herrera collectively. A full album, titled Retro Futuristo, was put together, but never officially released. However, two tracks from the project did see release. "Free To Believe" appeared on the soundtrack to the film Light It Up and "High Off You" appeared on Red Star Sounds, Vol. 1: Soul Searching. In 1999, Jon married his high school sweetheart, Music.
His third album, Pleasures U Like was released in 2001, with the sole single being "Don't Talk". The song rose as high as #3 on the US R&B charts. The album was well received critically and publicly, going gold, but poor promotion spurred Jon to leave Epic and ultimately, Sony altogether soon after its release.
Jon said of the situation: "Basically what happened was, the Sony situation wasn’t working for me. It just got to be too old of a relationship and not enough support emotional-wise, so it was time for new energy. My last album [for Sony] kinda fizzled out, We did a gold [selling] album, which is really cool, off of one single, but I just felt like [Sony] should’ve released more than one single. I worked really hard on that album. I had Nas on there, Faith on there, AZ, Cuban Link - it was a full album, as far as having a shot on the market. But I think that it was just a matter of [lack of] promotion." [1]
A fire in his home caused the destruction of his recording studio, and he then went through a painful divorce in 2002. These events caused Jon to take time off to regroup. He later signed with Sanctuary Urban Records.
In 2004, his fourth album, Stronger Everyday, was released. Like Pleasures U Like, it was well-received critically, but received sub-par promotion. He then left Sanctuary Urban in late 2005.
In 2006, Jon signed with Arsenal Records. In November of 2006, Jon released Holiday Wishes: From Me To You. The album is a collection of both original compositions and his covers of Christmas classics. He is currently working on a new album, entitled Back 2 Love, which is scheduled for a 2007 release.
Throughout his career, Jon has written, produced and arraigned music for numerous artists, in addition to doing the majority of production work on his own albums.
In 2006, Mexican pop band RBD released a cover of Jon B's "Tu amor" as the first single of their English album "Rebels."
Like Teena-Marie, Michael McDonald, and Lisa Stansfield Jon is regarded as a white person who truly has the voice and musical ability to create rhythm and blues, and is respected by R&B music fans and critics alike. Jon B is of mostly Italian, but a mix of other european ethniticy.
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[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album | Chart Statistics | Singles |
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[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Album | US | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "Someone to Love" Featuring Babyface | Bonafide | 7 | - |
| 1995 | "Pretty Girl" | Bonafide | 21 | - |
| 1996 | "Isn't It Scary" (Airplay only single) | Bonafide | 66 | - |
| 1997 | "Don't Say" | Cool Relax | 34 | - |
| 1998 | "They Don't Know" | Cool Relax | 2 | 32 |
| 1998 | "Are U Still Down" | Cool Relax | 9 | - |
| 1998 | "Better Days" Featuring WC | Gang Related by WC | 33 | - |
| 1998 | "I Do (Whatcha Say Boo)" | Cool Relax | 18 | - |
| 2001 | "Don't Talk" | Pleasures U Like | 21 | 29 |
[edit] Awards & nominations
| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 1995 | Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Someone to Love" |
| 1998 | Billboard Music Award nomination for Top R&B Artist |
| 1998 | Billboard Music Award nomination for Top R&B Artists - Male |
| 1998 | Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Hot R&B Single for "They Don't Know/Are U Still Down" |
| 1998 | Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Hot R&B Singles Artists |
| 1998 | Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Hot R&B Singles Artists - Male |
| 1998 | Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Hot R&B Singles Sales for "They Don't Know/Are U Still Down" |
| 1998 | Soul Train Music Award nomination for Best Male Single for "They Don't Know/Are U Still Down" |
