Kevon Edmonds (born February 25, 1958) is an American singer and actor. He is member of the R&B group

After 7 After 7 is an American R&B group founded in 1987 by brothers Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, and their friend Keith Mitchell. The Edmonds brothers are the older siblings of pop/R&B singer-songwriter and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, w ...

and the older brother of singer, songwriter, and record producer

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy A ...

. After 7 scored three platinum- or gold-selling albums, several R&B hits and multiple

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

hits. Kevon Edmonds released the solo album

24/7 In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty ...

in 1999. The album's

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 ...

was certified gold and was a No. 2 R&B hit and reached No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second single, " No Love (I'm Not Used to)" was a moderate R&B hit. Edmonds was also a member of the quintet

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

along with his brothers Babyface and Melvin Edmonds and

K-Ci & JoJo K-Ci & JoJo is an American R&B duo, consisting of brothers Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey (born September 2, 1969) and Joel "JoJo" Hailey (born June 10, 1971). Natives of Monroe, North Carolina, they are also the lead singers of the chart-topping R&B g ...

. The group only released one single, "I Care 'Bout You", for the ''

Soul Food Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans, originating in the Southern United States.Soul Food originated with the foods that were given to enslaved Black people by their white owners on Souther ...

'' movie soundtrack.

Biography

Edmonds was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

in 1958 to Marvin Edmonds Sr. and Barbara Edmonds. He is the fourth born of six sons. He had three older brothers Marvin Jr., Melvin and Michael and two younger brothers Kenny "Babyface" and Derek. Edmonds graduated from North Central High School and

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

. At Indiana University he was a member of the Soul Revue, where he met his future After 7 groupmate Keith Mitchell. Kevon and Keith decided to form a group as a hobby and add Kevon's brother Melvin. For years after college Edmonds worked at

Eli Lilly and Co. Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by, and named after, Colonel ...

, but he would come together with Keith and Melvin to perform locally. By the late 1980s, Edmonds' younger brother Babyface had built a successful career singing, writing and producing. He invited Melvin, Kevon and Keith out to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, named them After 7, and got them a record deal with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

After 7 and Milestone

As a member of

, Edmonds had successes earning platinum albums as well as several gold singles. They continued to tour the country and established themselves as one of R&B's top-performing groups. After their 1995 album, '' Reflections'', After 7 left

due to issues with the label. The departure from Virgin Records allowed the members to pursue their own personal projects and over time, saw the group separate. Edmonds then appeared with Babyface and

for a project in a fictional group called Milestone. The group performed in the movie ''

'' and had a hit single with the track "I Care About You". For a brief period, Milestone nearly became a real group, instead of just the fictional group portrayed in the movie, but label conflicts caused the project to collapse. After his first solo album Edmonds invited his nephew Jason Edmonds, son of Melvin, to tour with him as a background singer for years. By the late 2000s, After 7 resumed touring with Jason replacing his father. However, the group decided not to record again without the participation of Melvin. Melvin was able to reunite with the group on the 2015 single "I Want You", and a full comeback album ''Timeless'' was released in October 2016.

Solo career

In 1999, Edmonds released his first solo album, ''

''. The

from the album was a big hit, going gold and reaching No. 10 on the Hot 100. The album's second single, " No Love (I'm Not Used to)", performed moderately well, reaching No. 25 on the R&B charts. Edmonds' second solo CD, ''Who Knew'', was released on October 13, 2009, through Make Entertainment/Image Distribution. The first single was released in early August and is titled "Oh."

Discography

*''

'' (1999) *''Who Knew'' (2009)

References

External links

Official website

Kevin Edmonds on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonds, Kevon Living people American contemporary R&B singers 20th-century African-American male singers American male singers American tenors Countertenors Musicians from Indianapolis 1958 births Singers from Indiana 21st-century African-American people