Marc K. Nelson (born January 23, 1971) is an American singer and songwriter. He was an original member of

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

while still attending Philadelphia's High School of Performing Arts. However, Nelson left the group to pursue a solo career before they released their first album.

Early life and career

Nelson's mother was the late American singer

Phyllis Nelson Phyllis Nelson (October 3, 1950 – January 12, 1998) was an American singer, most famous for her 1985 song "Move Closer", which topped the chart in the United Kingdom. Her son is the singer and record producer, Marc Nelson, who was a member of ...

, best known for the songs "I Like You" and "Move Closer". Nelson attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. There, he and his friend

Nathan Morris Nathan Bartholomew Morris (born June 18, 1971) is an American baritenor, singer, businessman, and the founding member of American band Boyz II Men. He was the host of the show Hit Properties on the DIY Network where he bought and renovated a mu ...

(joined later by

Wanya Morris Wanyá Jermaine Morris ( ) (born July 29, 1973) is an American singer, best known as a member of the R&B group Boyz II Men. Television and film appearances Morris was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 22 of ''D ...

, Shawn Stockman and Michael McCary), formed the singing group Unique Attraction.

Boyz II Men

After hearing New Edition's song "Boys to Men" on the radio, the group changed their name to

. In 1989, the group met Michael Bivins and began making arrangements to sign the group to a major label and begin recording. In the interim, the group encountered delays in recording their album. Nelson grew impatient and left the group and began recording his debut solo project.

''I Want You''

After signing a solo deal with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, Nelson scored a hit with a cover of

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

's " I Want You", which hit No. 26 on the R&B charts. His follow-up, "Count On Me", reached No. 48 on the R&B charts. Nelson released his solo album, ''I Want You'', in 1991. Following the release of his solo album, Nelson began concentrating his talents as a songwriter. Drawing the attention of Babyface, Nelson wrote for artists like Toni Braxton,

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

, Tamia,

Tyrese Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...

and Jon B. Through Babyface, Nelson met the four members of the group Az Yet and was added to the line-up as second lead vocalist; the group was signed to LaFace Records.

Az Yet

As a member of Az Yet, Nelson found success. The group's self-titled debut album, released in 1996, went

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 ...

. A single on the album, "Last Night", went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Their second single, "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" did even better, going platinum and reaching No. 8 on the Hot 100.

''Chocolate Mood''

Nelson left Az Yet and began writing intensely. Subsequently, he released his second solo album, '' Chocolate Mood'', in 1999. The album featured Nelson's biggest solo hit, "15 Minutes", which reached No. 4 on the R&B charts and No. 27 on the

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 ...

. He also featured on the duet "After All is Said and Done" with

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, on the soundtrack to the motion picture '' The Best Man'' (1999). On January 9, 2007,

SESAC SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States.

honored Nelson at their third Jazz Awards Luncheon, for his authorship on "It's On Tonight" by

Brian Culbertson Brian Culbertson (born January 12, 1973) is an American smooth jazz/ R&B/funk musician and producer. His instruments include the synthesizer, piano and trombone. Early life and career Culbertson was born in Decatur, Illinois. As a child, he wa ...

. The event honored jazz writers whose works achieved Top 5 status on the jazz charts from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006.

''Marc: My Words''

Nelson released his first independent project, ''Marc: My Words'' (Lyric Masters 911) on July 24, 2007. Nelson wrote or co-wrote the lyrics on all 15 tracks of the album. He also produced or co-produced all of the tracks on the album. Nelson extracted the material for the release from his existing catalog of songs written between 2001 and 2007, and began recording the material in 2006. The album features the original version of "I Don't Wanna Be In Love" (co-written by jazz artist

) which also appears on the 2007 release ''Crystal City'' by Andre Ward.

Blayse

Nelson was also a founding member of the R&B super-group Blayse, with fellow R&B veterans Tony Grant of Az Yet, Gary "Lil G" Jenkins of

Silk (group) Silk is an American R&B group, formed in 1989 in Atlanta, Georgia. They are best known for their 1993 hit single, "Freak Me", which reached number-one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Career Silk is best known for their hit singles, "Freak Me ...

, and Terrell Phillips of Blackstreet. Although the group managed to record several songs, the recordings were never publicly released, the album was never completed, and the group disbanded in December 2007. Lil G returned to Silk, Nelson returned to Az Yet, and Tony Grant toured in the Tyler Perry stage production '' The Marriage Counselor'' (from January 2008 through May 2008).

Additional projects

Nelson acted in a number of stage plays and film productions dating back to 2007. Nelson released the R&B/Soul single "Wishing You The Worst" on July 24, 2017. The song was released independently via his production company ''Focused Artist Entertainment''. Nelson was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, for penning the theme song to the 2016 animated Christmas television film ''Snowy Day''. The title song was performed by

Discography

Studio albums

Contributions

Singles

* "I Want You" (1991) * "Count on Me" (1992) * "Last Night" with Az Yet (1996) * "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" with Az Yet & featuring Peter Cetera (1996) * "That's All I Want" with Az Yet (1997) * "15 Minutes" (1999) * "Too Friendly" (2000) * "Love's Not Love" (2000) * "Wishing You The Worst" (2017)

Stage play appearances

* ''Love Ain't Supposed to Hurt - Part II: The Wedding'' * ''Tell Hell I Ain't Coming'' * ''King Solomon Lives'' * ''Men Cry in the Dark'' * ''In-Laws From Hell''

References

External links

Marc Nelson's Official websiteMarc Nelson French Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Marc 1971 births Living people 21st-century African-American male singers African-American male singer-songwriters American contemporary R&B singers American soul musicians Musicians from Philadelphia Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Boyz II Men members Az Yet members Blayse members Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts alumni 20th-century African-American male singers