Kim Owens (born July 23, 1969), better known by his stage name Kem, is an American R&B/

Soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer–

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. Born in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Kem was raised near

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

.Kem
Billboards

Career

Kem wrote, produced, and financed his self-released debut album, ''

Kemistry Valerie Olukemi A "Kemi" Olusanya (13 October 1963 – 25 April 1999), commonly known by her stage name Kemistry, was a leading English drum and bass DJ of the early 1990s, half of duo Kemistry & Storm, and co-founder of the Metalheadz rec ...

'', with his

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

card and by singing top 40 cover tunes in a wedding band and waiting tables. He was signed by

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

in November 2001, which re-released the album on February 25, 2003. It sold more than 500,000 copies nationwide and was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. The album's only official single is "

Love Calls ''Love Calls'' is an album by saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis with Paul Gonsalves recorded in 1968 for the RCA Victor label. Track listing # "Love Is Here to Stay" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) - # "When Sunny Gets Blue" (Jack Segal, M ...

". His second album, '' Album II'', was released on May 17, 2005, and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. It includes the single "I Can't Stop Loving You", a #1 song at urban adult contemporary radio, and the song "You Might Win" featuring

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

on harmonica. His third album, '' Intimacy: Album III'', was released on August 17, 2010, and was certified Gold by the RIAA. In 2013, Kem was featured on "My Favorite Thing", with American recording artist

Ronald Isley Ronald Isley (; born May 21, 1941) is an American recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and occasional actor. Isley is the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers. Early life Born in 1941 to Sally ...

who Kem wrote and produced for. The song is the second single from Isley's album ''This Song Is For You''. On August 25, 2014, Kem released his fourth studio album, ''

Promise to Love ''Promise to Love'' is the fifth studio album by American singer Kem. It was released by Motown Records on August 25, 2014. The album debuted and peaked at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Critical reception Andy Kellman, writing fo ...

''. He performed the

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated song "Nobody" from the album on the syndicated daytime talk show '' Steve Harvey'' during the fourth season. On August 28, 2020, he released his fifth studio album, ''

Love Always Wins ''Love Always Wins'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Kem. It was released by Motown Records on August 28, 2020. The album marked Kem's first full-length project in six years. Critical reception Andy Kellman, writing for AllMusic ...

'', which includes the singles "Lie To Me" and "Live Out Your Love" featuring Toni Braxton.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

*2005: Billboard Music Award win for Top Adult R&B Single of the Year, "I Can't Stop Loving You" *2005: Billboard Music Award nomination for Top Adult R&B Artist of the Year (lost to

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

). *2011: 53rd Grammy Awards, Best R&B Male Performance, “Why Would You Stay” (Nomination) *2011: 53rd Grammy Awards, Best R&B Song, "Why Would You Stay" (Nomination) *2014: 57th Grammy Awards, Best Traditional R&B Performance, "Nobody" (Nomination)

References

External links

MusicByKEM.com
– Official website
KEM
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

KEM
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kem singer Living people American neo soul singers Motown artists 1969 births Singers from Detroit Ballad musicians Universal Motown Records artists 21st-century African-American male singers