Antonio Jeffries (born November 19, 1971), better known as Tony Rich and The Tony Rich Project, is an American

Grammy 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 pre ...

-award-winning Contemporary singer-songwriter best known for his hit single " Nobody Knows".

Early career

Rich was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, and first attracted attention through the production team of

Tim & Bob Tim & Bob (Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson), also known as Funktwons, were a songwriting and production duo. Tim & Bob have discovered and or worked on some of the biggest artists in the music industry and has helped develop the Atlanta music scene ...

. The duo convinced

Perri "Pebbles" Reid Perri Arlette Reid (née McKissack; August 29, 1964), known professionally as the recording artist Pebbles, is an American recording artist, singer-songwriter, businesswoman, record producer, and music executive. Reid is known for her hit songs ...

(then the wife of

L.A. Reid Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer. He is the founder and served as co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of Ep ...

, co-founder of

LaFace Records LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achie ...

) to listen to Rich over the phone. Rich was hired as a house songwriter for LaFace Records, penning hit singles for artists such as

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. ...

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 ...

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

, A Few Good Men and

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/ pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released ...

. As incoming Vice President of A&R,

Eddie F Edward "DJ Eddie F" Ferrell (born March 25, 1968) is an American producer, DJ, songwriter, executive and entrepreneur. He is co-founder and partner of the rap group Heavy D & the Boyz. He is also mostly known for his various work and projects ser ...

then convinced

to sign him as an artist. Later, Rich mixed elements 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 ...

, rock and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

into his own tracks.

The Tony Rich Project

After signing with

as an artist, Rich began work on his debut album. The set's lead single " Nobody Knows" was released in November 1995, and became a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

single, making it to No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 the following year. Under the

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"The Tony Rich Project," he released his debut album ''

Words A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...

'' in early 1996. Both the album and single 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 ...

. The album's follow-up single "Like a Woman" garnered moderate success giving Rich another Top30 AC single. He also contributed the track "Highway" to the soundtrack to the 1996 action film ''

Fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepares a man to ...

'' and "You're a Winner" to the ''Rhythm of the Games: 1996 Olympic Games Album'' compilation. The following year, Rich received four

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 ...

nominations including

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

("Nobody Knows"),

Best R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre. Honors ...

("Words"), and

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

("Like a Woman"). And he won the award for

. A third single, "Leavin'" was released in 1997 from his debut album and peaked at No. 88 on the Hot 100 and No. 53 on the R&B chart. Also that year, he did some songwriting/production work on albums by

Sam Salter Samuel Salter (February 16, 1975 – August 27, 2021) was an American R&B singer. Career Beginnings, LaFace Records and ''It's On Tonight'' Growing up as the second of seven children, Salter sang gospel music at Faithful Church of God in C ...

Michael Bolton Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...

, 4.0, and

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

. He made his feature film debut, portraying

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

in the 1997 crime drama ''

Hoodlum A hoodlum is a thug, usually in a group of misfits who are associated with crime or theft. Early use The earliest reference to the word "hoodlum" was in the December 14, 1866, ''San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin'' after the Hoodlum Band was ...

''. He recorded the track "Harlem is Home" for the movie soundtrack. After the success of his debut, Rich began work on his next album. The album's first single "Silly Man" was released in 1998 and gained some airplay. His second album '' Birdseye'' was released on August 8, 1998, and peaked at No. 66 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. It was critically praised, but failed to generate much commercial success. Due to some label issues/mergers, his album was caught in limbo. That same year, he was commissioned to produce a few remixes for the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

hit single "

Viva Forever "Viva Forever" is a song by English girl group the Spice Girls from their second studio album, '' Spiceworld'' (1997). The song was co-written by the group with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, while production was handled by the latter two ...

" in addition to doing some appearances/production work on albums by

CeCe Winans Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer. She rose to prominence as a member of the duo BeBe & CeCe Winans; before launching an acclaimed solo career. Winans has been a ...

and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. With his ''Birdseye'' album's cycle cut short, he took some time off to work on various projects. In 1999, he recorded a remake of the classic song "If This World Were Mine" with Grenique for the ''Marvin is 60'' compilation tribute album. For the next few years, he would write and compose songs for a couple of gospel artists such as Anointed and The Wordd. He also contributed a few tracks to the Guy reunion album '' Guy III'' of which "Why You Wanna Keep Me from My Baby" was released as a single and peaked at No. 50 on the R&B charts. In 2003, Rich returned with his third album ''Resurrected'' which marked his first release as an independent artist. Carrying a very different styles, the album featured Rich influenced by Rock music, focusing on his guitar work, in addition to various styles of music. The set's lead single "Traveling Alone" became an Urban AC hit and also became a huge hit in the Brazilian market as covered by the artist Luisa Possi and the album had a follow-up single with the track "Red Wine." In 2006, Rich released his fourth album, ''Pictures'' which featured the theme of snapshots of a relationship. It garnered a positive response from his fans, who marked the return to a R&B-focused genre than his previous release. In 2007, he signed with Hidden Beach Recordings, and began work on his fifth solo album ''Exist''. The first single from the album "Part the Waves" was released as a digital single, and the album soon followed on September 23, 2008. Following the promotion of the album with some tour dates and televised performances, his album track "Sweet Addiction" was featured on Hidden Beach Recordings' ''Hidden Beach Valentines Vol. 1: Love, Passion & Other Emotions'' compilation. In 2009, he began preparations to release a new studio album titled ''Speak Me'' with Hidden Beach Recordings. However, it wasn't until 2013 that the album was then scheduled to be released on March 19, 2013. The album's lead single "Fade Away" was pushed to Smooth Jazz / Smooth AC radio. The album was later pushed back to a summer release but eventually shelved. However, snippets of the album were made available through Hidden Beach Recordings' Soundcloud account. The latest release from The Tony Rich Project is ''Encaustic'', released in October 2017.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Singles

References

External links

Official site
*

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

br>Tony Rich Project 2013 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Tony 1971 births Living people 20th-century African-American male singers Record producers from Michigan Songwriters from Michigan Singers from Detroit Grammy Award winners American contemporary R&B singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American male singers African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American male singers American male songwriters