Terry Blade is an American singer-songwriter based in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Since his 2020 debut, Blade has received more than 100 awards, nominations and honors.

Career

2020–2021: ''The Unloveable'' and Other Releases

In 2020, Blade debuted his acoustic demo ''The Unloveable,'' which premiered at No. 16 on the iTunes R&B/Soul Charts in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and later earned him a singer-songwriter nomination at the

11th Hollywood Music in Media Awards The 11th Hollywood Music in Media Awards was held on January 27, 2021 to recognize the best in music in film, TV, video games, commercials, and trailers. The nominations were announced on January 15, 2021. Kenny Loggins was honored with the Career ...

. The demo was part of Blade's subsequently released six-track EP demo ''Misery'', which ranked among the Top 100 Singer/Songwriter Albums on the

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

Charts in Portugal, and included songs featured on the UK's BBC Radio WM and

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

RTRFM RTRFM (call sign: 6RTR) is a not-for-profit, community radio station based in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is self-funded, largely through listener subscription and fund-raising events. However, it does carry some "advertis ...

. Later that year, Blade went on to record a rendition of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's ''That's Alright Mam''a which, along with ''The Unloveable,'' was nominated for Best Acoustic/Folk Song of the Month at the May 2020 Track Music Awards; reached the Top 10 Blues Songs on Broadjam; and reached No. 1 on the iTunes Blues Charts in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

2021–2022: ''American Descendant of Slavery, the Album'' and ''Neo Queer''

In 2021, Blade released his debut album ''American Descendant of Slavery, the Album.'' The album was named in the Archives of African American Music & Culture's "February 2021 Black Music Releases of Note" alongside 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 atte ...

releases by

Jose James Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

, Joshua Henry,

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the gr ...

Nat Turner Rebellion Nat Turner's Rebellion, historically known as the Southampton Insurrection, was a slave revolt, rebellion of Slavery in the United States, enslaved Virginians that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831.Schwarz, Frederic D.1 ...

, Pink Sweats,

The Chi-Lites The Chi-Lites (, ) are an American R&B/soul vocal quartet from Chicago, Illinois, United States. Forming at Chicago's Hyde Park High School in 1959, The group's original lineup consisted of singers Robert Lester, Eugene Record, Creadel Jones, ...

The Jacksons The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most ...

, and

Trippie Redd Michael Lamar White II (born June 18, 1999), known professionally as Trippie Redd, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is one of the most prominent members of the SoundCloud rap scene, which gained mainstream acclaim in the late ...

. The album also received an accolade from Something Else Reviews, which ranked it second on its "Best of 2021 Rock, Pop and R&B"—a list that included albums by

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tr ...

, Joseph Williams, Peter Frampton, Tony Kaye, and Yes. The album and its lead single ''Black Hurts'' went on to win nineteen awards, including awards for Best Original Song and Best Black Music Video at the Munich Music Video Awards, the Gold Medal of Excellence Award for Lyrics/Songwriting at the Global Music Awards, and the Bronze Telly Award for Non-Broadcast-Craft:Use of Music. In 2022, Blade released his second studio album ''Neo Queer'' which won the Gold Medal of Excellence Award for

Neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

at the Global Music Awards. The album featured the tracks ''All Ways'' and ''The Silent Treatment'' which reached No. 31 and No. 83, respectively, on Amazing Radio's UK Daily Charts. ''The Silent Treatment'' peaked at No. 65 on Amazing Radio's

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Daily Charts. The album's third track ''Eaten Alive'' won the award for Best Animation Music Video at the 2022 International Music Video Awards.

2023–present: ''Won't Be Around'' and ''Ethos: Son of a Sharecropper''

In 2023, Blade released his Blues single ''Won't Be Around'' which debuted on the

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Local Pulse Charts for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. The song won Best Blues Recording at the 2023 Radio Music Awards; won Best Song at the 2023 Music Video Awards; won an Honorable Mention Award at the 2023 Unsigned Only Music Competition in the Vocal Performance category; received an inaugural nomination at the 2023 Hollywood Independent Music Awards in the Americana/Roots category; received a nomination at the 2023 Intercontinental Music Awards in the Blues category;and received a nomination at the 2023

14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards The 14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards recognized the best in music in film, TV, video games, commercials, and trailers of 2023. The ceremony was held on November 15, 2023, at The Avalon in Hollywood. The nominations were announced on Novem ...

in the Music Video (Independent) category. The song also appeared on Blade's third studio album ''Ethos: Son of a Sharecropper,'' which received a nomination for Best Folk/Americana Album of the Year at the 2023 Josie Music Awards, and was featured on The Boot.com's "Most Wanted Music: 2023's Country and Americana Album Releases" along with album releases by

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

Margo Price Margo Rae Price (born April 15, 1983) is an American country singer-songwriter and producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. ''The Fader'' has called her "country's next star." Her debut solo album '' Midwest Farmer's Daughter'' was released on T ...

John-Allison Weiss John-Allison Weiss (born April 13, 1987) is a Los Angeles-based indie pop singer, songwriter, and performer. To date, they have released three full-length albums and several EPs. Their most recent LP, ''New Love'', was released on October 2, 201 ...

Elle King Tanner Elle Schneider (born July 3, 1989), known professionally as Elle King, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her musical style was influenced by country, rock and blues. In 2012, King released her debut EP, '' The Elle King ...

, and

Mark Erelli Mark Erelli (born June 20, 1974) is an American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist,Chilton, Martin''The Telegraph'' (UK), November 22, 2011. and touring folk musician from Reading, Massachusetts who earned a master's degree in evolutionary ...

. Blade's album won the Gold Medal of Excellence Award for

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

at the Global Music Awards. He won Best Vocalist at the 2023 Music Video Awards for the album's closing

Gospel blues Gospel blues (or holy blues) is a form of blues-based gospel music that has been around since the inception of blues music. It combines evangelistic lyrics with blues instrumentation, often blues guitar accompaniment. According to musician and ...

track ''In My House.'' The track also won the award for Best Gospel Recording at the 2023 Radio Music Awards''.'' On April 1, 2023, Apple Music Radio Host Hunter Kelly featured Blade and his album's fourth track ''Rainbow Child'' on

's ''Proud Radio'' show, naming him and his track as the show's ''Proud Pick'' for April 2023. On October 6, 2023, Blade released his

single ''Black Cowboys'' which debuted on the

Local Pulse Charts for

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Personal life

Blade is originally from

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. He identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Discography

Studio albums

*''American Descendant of Slavery, the Album'' (2021) *''Neo Queer'' (2022) *''Ethos: Son of a Sharecropper'' (2023)

Extended plays

*''Misery'' (2020) *''Unmastered: The Demo Sessions'' (2021) *''The 4 Miseries'' (2021)

Singles

*''The Unloveable'' (2020) *''Brooms & Mops'' (2020) *'' Strange Fruit'' (2020) (Cover) * ''That's Alright Mam''a (2020) (Cover) *''The Karen Blues'' (2020) *''Gibberish'' (2021) *''Elixir'' (2021) *''Railroad Tracks'' (2022) *''For You'' (2022) *''Blue'' feat. Charlie J (2022) *''Brutus'' (2023) *''Won't Be Around'' (2023) *''Black Cowboys (2023)''

Videography

Music videos

*''The Unloveable'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2020) *''The Widow'' (Directed by Hibiscus Cloudberry) (2020) *''The Last Macbeth'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2020) * ''Crawling'' (Directed by Jay Carney) (2020) (Cover) *''Tomorrow'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2020) *''Mr. Robertson'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2020) *''Black Hurts'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2021) *''Gibberish'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2021) *''Eaten Alive'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2022) *''Blue'' feat. Charlie J (Directed by Terry Blade) (2023) *''Won't Be Around'' (Directed by Terry Blade) (2023)

Awards, Nominations and Honors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blade, Terry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Chicago Singer-songwriters from Illinois American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters African-American LGBT people African-American musicians American baritones Queer singers Queer songwriters African-American male singer-songwriters African-American male singers 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century African-American male singers