levert

The Best of Gerald Levert

Can It Stay

Private Line

School Me

Answering Service

Baby Hold on to Me

I'd Give Anything

As the son of O’Jays frontman Eddie Levert, Gerald Levert was born into American soul royalty. He formed the R&B trio LeVert in 1984 while he was still attending high school in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The group – which also comprised his younger brother Sean and friend Marc Gordon – was among Atlantic Records’ top urban acts of the ‘80s and ‘90s, unleashing a succession of hits, among them the pop smash “Casanova.” Levert made his solo debut with 1991’s EastWest release, Private Line, featuring two R&B #1 hits in the title track and “Baby Hold On To Me,” a duet with his famous father. In 1994, he joined the Elektra family when Sylvia Rhone, who had been running Atlantic’s Atco/EastWest division, moved over to become head of the Elektra Entertainment Group – the first African-American woman to become chairman of a major label. Rhone brought with her many of the artists she had been nurturing at EastWest, including Levert.
In 1997, Levert co-founded LSG, an urban R&B supergroup also comprising Johnny Gill and Elektra labelmate Keith Sweat. Fueled by the #1 R&B/Hip-Hop hit, “My Body,” the trio’s Elektra/EastWest debut album, Levert. Sweat. Gill, made a top 5 Billboard 200 debut on its way to RIAA platinum certification.

Levert’s first Elektra release came with 1999’s G, an ambitious collection that included the R&B hit, “Mr. Too Damn Good.” Levert’s next three albums, including 2001’s Gerald’s World, 2002’s The G Spot, and 2003’s Stroke of Genius, made top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200 upon their respective releases, with the third set also hitting #1 on the R&B album chart.

With Elektra entering dormancy, Gerald returned to Atlantic in 2004 with Do I Speak For The World. On November 10, 2006, he passed away from acute intoxication caused by the accidental combination of prescription narcotics and over-the-counter drugs; he was 40 years old.

In 2007, Levert’s final solo album, In My Songs, debuted atop Billboard’s “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” chart while also entering the overall Billboard 200 at #2. The acclaimed album’s title track later earned Levert his first-ever Grammy for “Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance,” an award memorably accepted on his behalf by younger brother, Sean. Sadly, Sean Levert died shortly thereafter from complications related to sarcoidosis; he was 39.