Maxwell

Hailed as one of the founders of the neo-soul movement of the 1990s, along with D'Angelo and Erykah Badu. Before his big break in the music business he worked as a waiter in restaurants in New York. (He was not a good waiter, he acknowledges.) His father, who died in a place crash when he was 3, was Puerto Rican, and his mother is Haitian. To protect his family's privacy, he took on his middle name as a stage name. Started writing songs at 17 and taught himself to play keyboards and guitar. … Show more He was signed to Columbia in 1994 and recorded his debut album, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite,  that year, but due to label management changes, it was not released until 1996. His debut album celebrates committed monogamy and was inspired by an intense and brief love affair. His influences include Marvin Gaye, Prince, Al Green and Leon Ware. For most of the 2000s, he was out of the limelight and did not release a CD from 2001 until '09. He spent the time, he said, reading, playing piano, and, not surprisingly (as he is a ladies' favorite), dating.  His "comeback" 2009 CD,  BLACKsummers'night, drew critical raves and topped the R&B charts. ~ Rovi

Show less