Tevin Campbell

In 1988, a friend of Campbell's mother arranged for him to audition for jazz flutist Bobbi Humphrey by singing over the phone to her in New York. Humphrey took an interest in Campbell and submitted an audio and videotape to Warner Bros. This led to a meeting with Benny Medina, the Warner's senior vice president and general sales manager of black music.

Campbell was introduced to the R&B world by Quincy Jones in August 1989. Campbell's debut single was "Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)" which reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart in June 1990.[2] This was a vocal version of a 1976 instrumental by The Brothers Johnson. It was the lead single from Jones' critically acclaimed ensemble LP Back on the Block which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1991.[3] After working with Jones and writers and producers including Siedah Garrett,[4] Campbell worked with producers Narada Michael Walden, Al B. Sure, Babyface, and others to record additional music.[5]

Campbell's first solo hit was "Round and Round", which charted at number 3 on the R&B chart in November 1990[6] and 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1991 was produced by Prince and was featured in Prince's film Graffiti Bridge.[7] After his appearance in the 1990 film Graffiti Bridge, Campbell made a guest appearance the following year on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, playing fictional teen idol, "Little T", a celebrity crush and date of Ashley's in the first-season episode, "Just Infatuation". (In a later episode, he was referenced when Will threatened to destroy Ashley's Tevin Campbell posters after she used Will's autographed Willie Mays baseball, cleaning off Mays' signature, for batting practice.) The song, "Round and Round" earned Campbell a Grammy Award nomination at the 33rd Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance but lost to Luther Vandross for "Here and Now".

Campbell followed the success of his first two singles by releasing his debut album, T.E.V.I.N., in November 1991 which featured the R&B hit singles and Campbell's number 1 R&B hit: "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do" followed by "Alone with You", and "Goodbye". T.E.V.I.N. reached number 38 on Billboard 200 chart and 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album eventually was certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling 1 million copies in the United States. T.E.V.I.N. earned Campbell a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 35th Grammy Awards but lost to Al Jarreau for his album Heaven and Earth. The album was produced by Jones, Al B. Sure! and Narada Michael Walden among others.

Between interviews and television appearances following the release of T.E.V.I.N., he contributed to three special projects: Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, a Grammy Award-winning album produced by Mervyn Warren of Take 6; A Very Special Christmas 2 album, featuring Campbell's rendition of "Oh Holy Night"; and Barcelona Gold, the 1992 Olympics album which includes his hit "One Song".

The singer's second album, the 1993 release of the album I'm Ready, was also produced by Jones and Medina. "I wanted to make a more mature-sounding album to reflect my current state of mind," Campbell explained to J. R. Reynolds in Billboard magazine. "I'm Ready says a lot about who I am as a person because of the things I've been through during the last four years or so. I hope people will see that I'm not the same young kid that I was on my first album." The album was produced by Babyface among others.

I'm Ready released October 1993, yielded the US top ten pop and number 1 R&B hit "Can We Talk" in December 1993; "I'm Ready", a US top ten and top five R&B hit;[8] and "Always in My Heart" which charted at the US Hot 100 top twenty and number 3 on the R&B chart.[9] He also scored a Top 30 R&B hit with a fourth single, "Don't Say Goodbye Girl".[10] The album was released on October 26, 1993 and went on to reach number 18 on the Billboard 200 and number 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album was certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 2 million copies in the United States. To date I'm Ready is Campbell's biggest selling album and many considered this album to be the high mark of his career despite the fact he was only 16 when he recorded the album. The album was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Can We Talk" at the 36th Grammy Awards (which he lost to Ray Charles for "A Song for You") and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "I'm Ready" (which he lost to Babyface for "When Can I See You") along with Best R&B Album for I'm Ready (which he lost to Boyz II Men for their album II) both at the 37th Grammy Awards .[8]

In November 1994, Campbell was featured on the soundtrack to the film, A Low Down Dirty Shame singing "Gotta Get Yo' Groove On" produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. In September 1994, Campbell also scored an R&B hit with the single "U Will Know" as part of the R&B super-group Black Men United, a group that also included singer Usher. During the time span of 1993 to 1995, Campbell performed as an opening act on select dates during the summer of Janet Jackson's Janet World Tour. In 1995, Campbell voiced the character Powerline in Disney's animated A Goofy Movie, performing the songs "I 2 I" (also styled as "Eye to Eye") and "Stand Out" for the film's soundtrack.[11] Campbell appeared alongside female recording artist Brandy on the September 28, 1995 episode of NY Undercover called "Digital Underground.Com" singing "The Closer I Get to You".

The year 1996 saw the release of his third album, Back to the World. The album saw production by Sean Combs. It reached number 46 on the Billboard 200 chart and 11 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In terms of sales, Back to the World was a disappointment compared to his first two albums T.E.V.I.N. and I'm Ready because it only reached Gold status. The album's first single,"Back To The World", reached number 47 on the Billboard 200 chart and 14 on the R&B charts becoming a moderate hit. However, the other two singles didn't even reach the Hot 100, "I Got It Bad" and "Could You Learn to Love" only managed to reach the R&B charts with very low peak positions. Also in 1996, Campbell sung a cover of the song, "The Impossible Dream", on the compilation album Rhythm of the Games: 1996 Olympic Games Album. Campbell also contributed to the RCA Victor Records tribute album called The Songs of West Side Story in dedication to the original West Side Story musical and it's 1961 film adaptation. Campbell sung the song "One Hand, One Heart" on the album which also featured contributions from Selena, Aretha Franklin, Phil Collins, Patti LaBelle, Natalie Cole, Sheila E. and All-4-One.[12]

On February 23, 1999, Campbell released his fourth album which is also self-titled. It found Campbell venturing into the neo-soul venue. The project was rushed and as a result, it charted below the R&B Top 30, with only one single charting, a Top 30 song called "Another Way".[8] The album has collaborations with Wyclef Jean, Faith Evans, David Foster, and SWV lead singer Coko. In 1999, Campbell made another guest appearance on the hit show Moesha starring Brandy in the episode, "The Rite Stuff".

In July 1999, Campbell was arrested after soliciting a lewd act from an undercover police officer during a sting operation in Van Nuys, California. The sting operation was reportedly conducted in an Elementary School area where there had been numerous complaints from the public about cruising and solicitation. According to police reports, Campbell was also in possession of a small amount of marijuana at the time of his arrest.[13]

During 2000, Campbell stayed out of the public eye. In 2001, Campbell released the compilation album, The Best of Tevin Campbell. In 2002, it was reported that he had stopped making music. However, this didn't stop his international (World) tours.

On 31 December 2002 he performed in Uganda at the Nile Hotel and International Conference Center (known today as Serena Kampala Hotel) Gardens to a cheering crowd of Youths, young and old.

He performed popular songs like "I'm Ready", "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do", "Round and Round", and many others that took the show until 2am of 1 January 2003. He was accompanied by his team, his mother and DJ Dennis "The Menace".

Through 2003 to 2004, Campbell had still not made a public appearance and kept a low profile. However, in 2005, Campbell made an appearance on Broadway for the musical Hairspray as the character, Seaweed J. Stubbs.[14] Campbell later reprised his role of Seaweed in the Broadway play in the Melbourne and Sydney productions in Australia.[15] He worked with the production up until 2011. During 2006 to 2007, Campbell made few public appearances, due to his commitment to Broadway. In May 2008, Campbell released an internet album entitled, 2008, Never Before Heard through Rambo House Media and the album was released to iTunes and Amazon as a means of test marketing some material originally recorded in 2002. After six months of availability, Campbell decided to no longer allow the unpublished material to be downloaded online, and the music can no longer be heard or purchased on these sites. As of 2019, it is unknown if Campbell will ever re-release said unpublished material.

In early 2009, record producer Narada Michael Walden said that Campbell was working on new material to be released in early 2009. However, nothing was ever released. Also in 2009, Campbell made an appearance at the BET Awards 2009 as he paid tribute to The O'Jays with Trey Songz, Tyrese, and Johnny Gill. In May 2010, Campbell performed on The Mo'Nique Show. He said that many people wanted him to work again on music and he was thinking about a comeback. In November 2010, he was featured on the remake of a song by Quincy Jones called "Secret Garden". The remake featured Usher, Robin Thicke, Tyrese Gibson, LL Cool J and Barry White. TV One's show Life After featured Campbell's life and career, as well as updates on his comeback. From 2011 to 2012, Campbell made small appearances here and there. In 2013, Campbell performed a concert called Tevin Campbell in Cape Town and was a part of Divos Tour 2013 both in South Africa as well as traveling to London to perform at The O2 Arena and also performed at the One Man, One Nation, One Celebration memorial service in honor and tribute to Nelson Mandela held at FNB Stadium.[16]

On June 14, 2014, Campbell performed a concert at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill in New York called An Evening with Tevin Campbell and received positive reviews.[17] It was officially announced that he was working on a new album with collaborations from producer Teddy Riley, singer Faith Evans and rapper T-Pain.[18] On July 5, Campbell performed at the 2014 Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.[19] The performance garnered great reviews. Campbell appeared on a track called "Let it Flow" with Naturi Naughton from the Full Force album With Love from Our Friends which was released on August 26, 2014.[20]

In November, it was announced that Campbell had signed with Spectra Music Group.[21] On August 14, 2015, Campbell appeared at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California for a rare performance of his song "I 2 I" from the A Goofy Movie soundtrack at the end of A Goofy Movie cast reunion held during the fourth annual D23 Expo.[22][23][24]

On September 29, Campbell was featured on a remake of the song, "Maybe Tomorrow", originally recorded by The Jackson 5. The song was featured on jazz musician Aaron Bing's ninth studio album, Awakening. On November 29, 2015, Campbell performed his song "Can We Talk" while Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds played piano as a part of a tribute dedicated to Edmonds who was honored with the Legend Award at the 2015 Soul Train Music Awards. The tribute included Brandy, Fantasia Barrino, Boyz II Men, Bobby Brown and Babyface himself, which included some of the hit songs that he wrote.[25]

Campbell released a new single from his 5th album entitled, "Safer on the Ground" via iTunes and Google Play. The song served as a "buzz" single and was available for free streaming a day earlier on SoundCloud.[26][27] When asked about the new album in an interview with Jet magazine website, Campbell told the interviewer that the song reminded him of a modern-day "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do". In the interview, Campbell also stated that the song is a love song about a broken heart, but to him it represents being humble and safe, speaking of the disappointment with music business during the early stages of his career. Campbell stated that he doesn't agree with the new sound of current R&B music and wants his music to be "authentic".[28][29]

March 19, 2019, in a surprising video post on social media, Tevin revealed he would appear on the fourth season of the OWN scripted drama series Queen Sugar, while on the show's production set, teasing his followers without giving away too much information, saying, "...stay tuned to...SEASON 4 BABY!".[30] The news came after months of director Ava DuVernay planning to add Campbell on the show as a way to rebuke slander of his name by the millennial generation.[31][32] In the video, Tevin thanks her for keeping her word and also thanks the cast and crew for making him feel at home.

Campbell is an altino countertenor[33] who possesses a four-and-a-half-octave vocal range. His vocal range spanned from E2 to a D6 in his song "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do".