Happy heavenly 58th birthday to Gerald Levert!
Born June 13, 1966, Gerald was a significant vocalist, songwriter and producer. He aspired to follow the dreams of his father, Eddie Levert Sr, lead singer of the O’Jays. Gerald eventually did, becoming a prominent voice in 90s R&B. Sadly, unfortunate circumstances led to a fatal heart attack at 40 years old.
As a teenager, Gerald, his brother Sean Levert, and childhood friend Marc Gordon, came together in 1983 to form the group LeVert. Between 1985 to 1990, the group released annual albums that grew more popular by the year.
He helped take the group to the top of the Soul charts with “Pop Goes My Mind” and the infectious midtempo tune “Casanova.”
However, after 1990, Gerald developed his own solo career, but continued to contribute to three additional albums with the LeVert group which led in 2001 to an album of their greatest hits produced by Rhino records.
He debuted his solo career with his album Private Line. The title track spawned his first number one single as a solo artist on the Billboard R&B charts. The following year, Gerald came back with a duet with his father, “Baby Hold On To Me.” The success of that single led to their duet album, Father & Son.
LSG
Gerald also became a member of LSG, a supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and himself. Their self-titled debut album, Levert, Sweat, Gill, produced the single, “My Body”, which reached platinum. Their last album with Gerald as a member was created around 2003. However, Gerald was posthumously featured again on Sweat’s “Knew It All Along” and Gill’s Til the Morning album.
The late 90s to early 2000 saw a string of hit singles from Gerald, including “Thinkin’ About It” (No. 12 Pop), “All I Want Is You” featuring Kelly Price, and a remake of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly”, along with gospel singer Yolanda Adams.
In addition to his impressive string of hits, the Cleveland, OH, native rendered his services as songwriter, vocalist, and producer to many artists, such as the O’Jays, Barry White, Stephanie Mills, Troop, Teddy Pendergrass, the Winans, Patti Labelle, and the Rude Boys.
Shortly after completing a personal memoir with his father, as well as another album, Levert died on November 10, 2006, at the age of 40. His final recordings were released in February 2007 under the title In My Songs. In February 2008, Levert won a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for In My Songs.
Levert had four children: son, LeMicah, and two daughters, Camryn, and Carlysia.