Sir Charles Jones (born April 25, 1973) is an American
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and Southern Soul singer.
Biography
Jones was born in
Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...
. When he was young, his family moved to
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
, where he was raised. It was in Birmingham where his singing career started. Jones taught himself how to write his own music, as well as arranging and producing it. In his early career, he worked under the guidance and tutelage of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
to
fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
, and from
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
to blues. He also sang Just Can't Let Go which was one of his top songs in the Blues/R&B area.
His first album, ''Sir Charles Jones'', was released in 2000. A review in ''
Living Blues
''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van Sin ...
'' praised Jones' vocals and stated, "for a largely-programmed effort, this disk percolates with sensuality and emotional heat." Jones' next album, ''Love Machine'', spent 57 weeks on the U.S. ''
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 ...
''
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...
chart, where it peaked at number 28 in June 2002. ''Living Blues'' credited the ballad "Is There Anybody Lonely?" for increasing the attention on Jones by soul and blues radio. The magazine added, "his success bodes well for the future of soul/blues as a viable contemporary music."
A motorcycle accident in 2003 left Jones in a
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
for several days. After a long and full recovery, he released ''Thank You for Holding On'' in 2006. Two years later, he released a compilation album, ''My Story'', and a music DVD, ''Sir Charles Jones: His Life & Times - Undisputed King of Southern Soul''.
Awards
*''American Blues Network'':
:* International Entertainer of the year 2001-2004
:* Album of the Year 2002 & 2003
*
B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...
Achievement Award 2003 & 2004
Discography
Studio albums
Video album
*''Sir Charles Jones: His Life & Times - Undisputed King of Southern Soul'' (2008)