CeCe Rogers (born Kenneth Jesse Rogers III, April 30, 1962), is a two time Grammy nominated American singer, songwriter and record producer from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, United States. He was given the nickname CeCe by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

, who watched him performing at 11 years of age, imitating

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...

. He is considered one of the most popular male vocalists in

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

. In 1987, he recorded the track " Someday" in collaboration with

Marshall Jefferson Marshall Julius Jefferson (born September 19, 1959) is an American musician, working in the house music subgenres of Chicago house and deep house. Biography Sometimes known as the father of house music, Jefferson was originally a record produce ...

, an anthem of house music, having been rated number 3 in ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

's'' 100 Greatest Singles of All Time. His track "All Join Hands" became popular in 1991, after

Laurent Garnier Laurent Garnier (born 1 February 1966), also known as Choice, is a French electronic music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJing in Manchester during the late 1980s. He became a producer in the early 1990s and recorded several albums. Early influ ...

began to mix it with Pulsation's "Transpulsation".

Early life

Rogers attended Shaw High School in

East Cleveland, Ohio East Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is the first suburb encountered when travelling east from Cleveland. The population was 13,792 at the United States Census 2020, 2020 census. East Clevela ...

and

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He began studying piano at the age of five. His mother, a music teacher, introduced him to gospel, the genre that forms his musical foundation. He was considered a child prodigy and at the age of nine, he was a featured musician on the weekly television program, ''The Gene Carroll Show''. Moving to the New York area in 1984, he taught voice and piano, as well as doing session work with such artists as

Melba Moore Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba Smith (sources differ) (born October 29, 1945), known by her stage name Melba Moore, is an American singer and actress. Biography Early life and education Moore was born Beatrice Melba Hill or Beatrice Melba ...

Freddie Jackson Frederick Anthony Jackson (born October 2, 1956) is an American singer. Originally from New York, Jackson began his professional music career in the late 1970s with the California funk band Mystic Merlin. Among his well–known R&B/soul hits are ...

, and

Curtis Hairston Curtis Kinnard Hairston (October 10, 1961 – January 18, 1996) was an American soul/ funk vocalist, who had a number of top 75 hit singles in the UK and US, both as a solo artist and as a featured artist in the B. B. & Q. Band. Hairston's si ...

. He also formed his own group, CeCe & Company, whose repertoire included jazz and R&B tunes. Some of the group's vocalist at the time were Sybil Lynch,

Adeva Adeva (born Patricia Daniels) is an American singer. She had a string of successful house and R&B hits in the late 1980s to early 1990s, including "Warning!", "I Thank You" and "Respect" (all three of which reached number 17 in the UK Singles ...

, and Kenny Bobien.

Recording career

In 1987, Rogers recorded the track "Someday" with its songwriter,

, and was then signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, making "Someday" the first house-music song released by a major label. Not realizing the massive appeal house music was having in Europe, Rogers moved away from the house scene and released his debut album, ''CeCe Rogers'', in 1989. The album was a mix of contemporary R&B and house tracks that received rave reviews but poor sales. His second album, ''Never Give Up'' (1991), also failed to chart selling only 300,000 units. He was dropped from Atlantic and went back to doing session work singing backgrounds for

TV commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

. In 1993,

David Morales David Morales (; born August 21, 1962) is an American disc jockey (DJ) and record producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is also a remixer. David Morales has remixed and produced over 500 releases for artists including Ma ...

recruited Rogers to work on his debut album, ''Games''. He worked on many of Morales's remix projects including "The Best Things In Life Are Free" by

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

and

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

, and the soundtrack of ''

Sister Act ''Sister Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and written by Paul Rudnick (as Joseph Howard). It stars Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer forced to join a convent after being placed in a witness protection program. It ...

''. Rogers has written and produced many songs with his friend and business partner, Marshall Jefferson. In 1989, Rogers wrote the UK hit single, " Got to Get You Back" for

Kym Mazelle Kym Mazelle (born Kymberly Grigsby; August 10, 1960) is an American singer. She is regarded as a pioneer of house music in the United Kingdom and Europe. Her music combines R&B, soul, funk, house music, dance, and pop. She is credited as " Th ...

. The house scene grew quickly, starting out in Chicago and establishing roots in New Jersey. Soulful house became popular in Europe when Rogers toured with Jefferson. In 1994, Rogers recorded a string of hits with the Italian band

Jestofunk Jestofunk are an Italian acid jazz musical group, formed in 1992 by DJ MozArt (Claudio Rispoli) and DJ Blade. They collaborated with American musician CeCe Rogers CeCe Rogers (born Kenneth Jesse Rogers III, April 30, 1962), is a two time Grammy ...

. This would lead to three world tours. After five years with Jestofunk, Rogers decided to stop touring and give teaching a try. Seeing the need for more

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

male teachers in the

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

community, Rogers taught music production for eight years at the Essex County Vocational School in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. He became a supervisor for the district and formed a gospel choir that won many competitions, including the McDonald's Gospelfest and

Cherry Blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

music festival.

Discography

Albums

* ''CeCe Rogers'' - Atlantic 82021 (1989) * ''Never Give Up'' - Atlantic 82286 (1991) * ''Key of Ce'' - USB Records (2017)

Singles

As featured artist

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, CeCe 20th-century African-American male singers American house musicians 1962 births Living people Atlantic Records artists Musicians from Cleveland 21st-century African-American people