Gregory Joel Abbott (born April 2, 1954) is an American

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and producer. Although he continues to record to date, he is best known for his singles in the mid-1980s including his platinum single, "

Shake You Down "Shake You Down" is a song by American R&B artist, writer and producer Gregory Abbott. It was released in August 1986 as the lead single from his debut album. It became Abbott's biggest hit and was certified platinum by the RIAA. The track is al ...

", from his 1986 debut album.

Biography

Early life

Abbott was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, New York. Abbott's parents were from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

. During his early years, Abbott's mother taught him how to play

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and encouraged him to develop vocally. Before his career as a

, Abbott studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and creative writing at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

; where he won a Wallace Stegner fellowship. Before becoming a musician, Abbott taught as a professor of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

at the

Music career

One of Abbott's first opportunities in his studio was an album for an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

record label, which gave him the opportunity to do a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

. Continuing on, Abbott produced for the group EQ on

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 ...

. In 1986, Abbott released his first solo album, ''Shake You Down''. The

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

for the album was a success, going

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

and topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album's second single, "I Got the Feelin' (It's Over)", reached Number 5 on the R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

. On the strength of its

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, the album reached platinum status and earned Abbott several awards. Internationally, Abbott has also had success, winning first prize at the

Tokyo Music Festival The Tokyo Music Festival was an international music contest that ran from 1972 to 1992. It was organized by the Tokyo Music Festival Association. The first edition of the Tokyo Music Festival took place on 13 May 1972 with 12 participating countri ...

. The title track of his second album, "I'll Prove It to You", which was released in 1988, was featured on a Japanese movie soundtrack. In

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, he performed with Princess Stephanie of

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. Over the years much of his new music has been released via his own Mojo Man Entertainment label. Abbott has continued with his R&B sound, but he added a Caribbean influence to his 1996 album ''One World!'' In 2011, an album entitled ''Drop Your Mask'' was released. Abbott continues to release singles including a smooth jazz song "Chill" featuring saxophonist Gerald Albright.

Personal life

Abbott was married to American singer

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

from 1976 until 1979. Their son, Gregory Joel Abbott, Jr., was born in 1977.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Compilation albums

* ''Super Hits'' ( Legacy Recordings, 1998) * ''Rhyme and Reason'' (

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, 2006)

References

External links

* *
Mojo Man Entertainment

Smooth Jazz Artist Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Gregory 1954 births Living people 20th-century African-American male singers American soul singers Columbia Records artists Singers from New York City UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Musicians from Berkeley, California Singer-songwriters from California Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty African-American academics African-American male songwriters 21st-century African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state)