Who is Johnny Gill?

Johnny Gill Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and actor from Washington D.C., known for his solo career as well as his collaborations with New Edition, LSG and Luther Vandross. He was born on 22 May 1966 in Washington D.C., to a family of musicians. His father was a jazz saxophonist while his mother was a choir director at their local church. By the age of five, he was singing in the church choir alongside his brothers, Robert and Stacy.

Early Career

Growing up in an environment of music, it was no surprise that Johnny pursued a career in music after high school graduation. In 1982, he joined the R&B band New Edition who had just released their debut album Candy Girl. He quickly gained fame as the group’s lead vocalist and became one of the most recognizable voices in the industry.

Solo Career

In 1987, Johnny launched his own solo career by signing a deal with Motown Records. His debut album Johnny Gill was released that same year and went on to reach gold status selling over 500 thousand copies in the US alone. The lead single “Half Crazy” peaked at number 20 on Billboard’s R&B chart and received heavy rotation on radio stations around the world.

Collaborations

In 1997, Johnny formed the supergroup LSG along with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. The trio released their debut album Levert Sweat Gill the same year which peaked at number 2 on Billboard 200 and achieved double-platinum status selling over 2 million copies worldwide. The song “My Body” became a huge hit reaching number 1 on both US R&B chart and US Pop chart.

Recent Years

Since then, Johnny has gone on to release several more albums including Still Winning (2011) and Game Changer II (2020). He has also worked with many other artists such as Luther Vandross, TLC, K-Ci & JoJo, among others. In 2017, he returned to New Edition for their 30th anniversary tour and performed at various venues across North America until 2018.