Keith Douglas Washington (born November 15, 1960) is an American R&B

vocalist 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 ...

from

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 ...

who recorded the hit single " Kissing You" in 1991. The song was also used as

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television soap opera ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

''. "Kissing You" was nominated for a

Grammy Award 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 pres ...

for Best R&B Vocal Performance Male and won a 1992

Soul Train Music Award The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

for Best R&B/Soul Single – Male. The song also topped the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart for one week. .

Biography

Prior to his success as a

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

act, Washington earned recognition as a songwriter, co-writing

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 ...

's 1988 number one R&B hit "

Hey Lover "Hey Lover" is a song by American rapper LL Cool J, released as the first single from his sixth album, ''Mr. Smith (album), Mr. Smith'' (1995). The song features vocals from American Contemporary, R&B group Boyz II Men. It was released on Octobe ...

". Within three years, Washington had scored a contract as a solo artist, releasing his debut album, ''Make Time for Love'', in 1991. In addition to "Kissing You", the album featured a number of successful follow-up R&B singles. He also recorded 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

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

, their co-composition " If You Were with Me Now", in 1991 (on

PWL Records Pete Waterman Entertainment (PWE) is the production company one-time pop and dance record label owned by British pop mogul Pete Waterman. The label, originally PWL (Pete Waterman Limited), is most famous for being the home of hit record pro ...

), which reached number 4 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and number 23 in Minogue's native Australia. Washington's follow-up album, ''You Make It Easy'' appeared in 1993, though its success paled in comparison to the debut. It would be another five years before Washington released his third album, '' KW'', which featured the minor single, "Bring It On". Washington branched out in a few acting roles, starring as himself on the television series ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

'' in an episode called "A Woman with a Past" which featured him singing a duet with

Tisha Campbell-Martin Tisha Michelle Campbell (born October 13, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1986 rock musical comedy film ''Little Shop of Horrors'', and later starred on the short-lived NBC musical comedy dram ...

titled "

The Closer I Get to You "The Closer I Get to You" is a romantic ballad performed by singer-songwriter Roberta Flack and soul musician Donny Hathaway. The song was written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, two former members of Miles Davis's band, who were members of Flac ...

", a classic ballad performed and made famous in 1978 by

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...

and Donny Hathaway. Additionally, Keith had a brief role in the TV soap opera ''

'' as Keith Jasper. Appearing alongside lead actress

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 ...

, he also had a brief role in

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

's ''

Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...

'', as a hairdresser named Dexter. Washington's first marriage to Marsha Jenkins ended in divorce and resulted in her writing ''The Other Side of Through'', a book loosely based on Jenkins' marriage to Washington and her experiences with the singer's marital infidelities. In June 2009, Washington married his longtime girlfriend, Stephanie Grimes, who is general sales manager for

WGPR WGPR (107.5 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan, broadcasting an urban contemporary radio format. Owned by the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, its studios and offices are on East Jefferson Avenue on Detr ...

-FM 107.5 in

. He also revealed his plans to release a new album. Washington has since branched out into radio himself, as he now hosts the nighttime "Slow Jams" show "Kisses After Dark" on Detroit radio station

WDMK WDMK; (105.9 FM, "105.9 Kiss-FM") is a commercial FM radio station in Detroit, Michigan. Owned by Beasley Broadcast Group, it broadcasts an urban adult contemporary format. The studios and offices are on Radio Plaza in Ferndale. The station b ...

-FM 105.9 (Kiss-FM).

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Discography
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Keith Living people 1960 births Qwest Records artists American contemporary R&B singers Singers from Detroit Ballad musicians 20th-century African-American male singers