Brad Viktor Johnson, better known by his stage name Brad Vee Johnson, is a Romanian-based American singer from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He rose to prominence after relocating to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, performing lead roles in ''

The Buddy Holly Story ''The Buddy Holly Story'' is a 1978 American biographical film which tells the life and career of rock and roll musician Buddy Holly. It features an Academy Award-winning musical score, adapted by Joe Renzetti and Oscar-nominated lead performan ...

'', ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed rom ...

'', and ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

''. Johnson has been the Dean of the International Medical University of Natural Education (IMUNE) since 2013 and as the acting President of the International Register of Therapists Circle of Excellence (IRTCOE). He currently resides in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Early life

Born and raised in

, his love for music and singing was formed at an early age by the influence of his mother, Deloris Aida Johnson, singing in the church gospel choir and his father William Edward Johnson, a pastor and jazz pianist. He studied music at the

High School for the Performing Arts The Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) is a public performing arts high school located in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Maryland, United States and is part of the Baltimore City Public Schools system. Established in 1979, The Baltimore School for the ...

(FAME school) under Dorothy McDaniels and studied voice with the jazz singer

Marie Blake Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald (August 21, 1895 – January 14, 1978), also known as Blossom Rock, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage, film and television. During her career she was also billed as Marie Blake or Blossom MacDonald. He ...

. Blake offered him his first public singing appearance at the now defunct Five Oaks Piano Bar and Supper Club, once located on Grove Street in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, New York City. He also studied acting at HB Studios with William Hickey, actor and coach.

Career

After graduating from New York University, he relocated to Europe in 1986 where he took up residence in

, Sweden. There he continued his singing career and furthered it by performing in various musicals such as ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' at

Østre Gasværk Teater Østre Gasværk Teater is a theatre in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, located in an abandoned gasholder house of the former Østre Gasværk (‘Eastern Gasworks’). The theatre is constructed within the masonry shell that used t ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark under the direction of

Lars Kaalund Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". A homonymous Etruscan name was born ...

, ''

'', ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

'', ''

'' in Malmö, ''

'' at

Göta Lejon Göta Lejon is a theatre located at 55 Götgatan in the district of Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden. History Göta Lejon was built in the years 1926–1928 according to drawings by architect Birger Borgström. (1890–1964). Architecturally, the ...

in Stockholm, and ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'' in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands. In 1992 he met

Sheyla Bonnick Sheyla Bonnick is a singer/songwriter, performer, co-producer, fashion designer, author, talent scout, reiki healer and games designer. Early life Bonnick was born in Jamaica in the 1950s. Her mother was a teacher and a seamstress and her ...

, founding member of

Boney M Boney M. was a German- Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group' ...

with whom he continues to tour to this day under the Sounds of Boney M Formation. In 1994, he also successfully started Sweden's premiere gospel choir One Voice, together with singer and friend Blossom Tainton. He relocated to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in 2004 after a concert at the then called Tutankamon (now Obsession) in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, Romania where he was immediately offered a record contract with

Roton In theoretical physics, a roton is an elementary excitation, or quasiparticle, seen in superfluid helium-4 and Bose–Einstein condensates with long-range Dipole, dipolar interactions or Spin–orbit interaction, spin-orbit coupling. The dispersi ...

Records. He recorded two house/club singles with Romanian composer DJ Raoul. During his time in Romania he organized a number of concerts in order to raise awareness on Romanian youth suffering from HIV/AIDS and the stigma it may carry. He has since relocated to

, where he is currently based, performing both locally and internationally with his gospel group, jazz and blues band, and under the formation of the Sounds of Boney M with Sheyla Bonnick. He earned his PhD in Sociology in 2012 based on his work on researching and shedding light on the inequality present in the modern education system.

Stage roles

Apart from musicals, he was also the narrator for the 2013 film '' I'm Not Famous but I'm Aromanian''.

References

External links

Quantumleaps.ro
''Interviews'' *

22 septembrie 2011, Corina Stoica, ''Revista Tango'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Brad Vee 1961 births Living people American male singers American male musical theatre actors Romanian people of African-American descent