Alex Boyé (born 16 August 1970)
[ is a British-American singer, dancer, and actor. He was named the "2017 Rising Artist of the Year" in a contest sponsored by ]Pepsi
Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...
and Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...
.
Early life, family and education
Boyé was born in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, on 16 August 1970 to Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...
parents. While pregnant, Boyé's mother went to London while his father remained in Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
. By his own account, Boyé never knew his father. His mother remarried and worked for the London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Undergro ...
, cleaning tracks at night. One day his mother said she was going to Nigeria for a couple of weeks for a visit and did not return for eight years.
Boyé was raised in the Tottenham
Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...
neighborhood that has been described as "tough". He spent much of his youth in foster home
Foster care is a system in which a underage, minor has been placed into a ward (law), ward, group home (Residential Child Care Community, residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, ref ...
s with Caucasian parents.
As a teenager, he listened to and was influenced by African-American artists, including Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
, Kool and the Gang
Kool may refer to:
People
* Kool (surname), surname of Dutch origin
* Robert "Kool" Bell (born 1950), American bassist and founder of Kool and the Gang
* Roger Kool (1954–2005), Singaporean DJ (Roger Kiew)
* Kool DJ Herc (born 1955), Jamaica ...
, James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
, Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...
, Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of th ...
and Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...
.
At age 16, Boyé was working in a McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
in London when he was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church) by a manager. He was baptized soon afterward. Boyé first performed in public while serving as an LDS Church missionary in Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, England.[
]
Career
The 1990s
After completing his LDS Church mission, Boyé became a backup dancer
A backup dancer also known as background dancer is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Their movements (especially where there are many moving together) improve the visual aesthetic ...
, including for George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
.
In 1995, he formed and became the lead singer of Awesome, a European boy band
A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...
.
Awesome performed at local dances and other small venues until 1996 when they won a vocal competition on Capital Radio
Capital London is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment as part of its national Capital (radio network), Capital Network.
As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Bri ...
, London's largest radio station. Subsequently, Universal Records
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
of Europe signed Awesome to a five-album recording contract. Awesome released three singles off their first album, ''Rumors'', which made top-10 charts all across Europe.[
The band sold 500,000 albums and performed alongside artists that included ]Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
, George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...
, Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...
, MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...
, and many others. But Boyé disliked the lifestyle of a touring musician. "I had this dream of being a musician, but it was taking me down a road that led somewhere I didn't want to go," he said.[ Boyé decided to leave the band in 1999 to pursue a solo career. He lost all of the material possessions he had gained as a member of Awesome when the record company took the apartment, the clothes, the phone and the money.][
In 1999, Boyé joined two other artists in London to discuss recording a ]demo tape
A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
of LDS Church hymns with a pop/R&B spin. One of the artists sat at the piano and hit upon a jazz sound for the hymn "Count Your Many Blessings" which became the signature song for the group. That evening they began to improvise church hymns and eventually created 'Soul Saints'. Within a couple of weeks, the group had started recording the songs and gave performances at Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is a , historic Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Parks of London, Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington P ...
before going on to tour in Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
. Wayne Scholes was the group's manager and Excel Records acted as a consultant while Soul Saints were in the United States.
The 2000s
In 2000, Boyé moved to Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...
, to pursue a career in Mormon music. He released his first religious album ''The Love Goes On'' in 2001.
When the lead actor portraying Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...
in the Rodgers Memorial Theatre's production of Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde (musical), Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for ...
's ''Civil War'' dropped out three weeks before the play opened, Boyé was recruited as a replacement. With no prior acting experience and no knowledge of the Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, he learned his lines and united the cast. Glenn McKay, the theatre's board president, had recruited black performers for the show from the Calvary Baptist choir and other area churches, but was having trouble melding them with his Davis County regulars. McKay said Boyé "saved the production."[ Boyé followed that success with the role of Abinadab in the Lightstone Films production of '']David and Goliath
Goliath ( ) was a Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challenge to the Israelit ...
''. In 2005, Boyé received an award from the LDS Booksellers Association for his album ''Testimony''. Boyé also appeared in a 2008 episode of the BYU produced TV show'' The Writers' Block''.
Boyé was seeking a way to build a Latter-day Saint audience when he met Craig Jessop, then conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for o ...
, at a Latter-day Saint music festival and he encouraged Boyé to audition for the choir. Boyé joined the 360-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir in 2006 and became one of its three black members. He also continued to pursue a solo career. He had two solo parts in the choir's album ''Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a Christian hymn written by the pastor and hymnodist Robert Robinson, who penned the words in 1757 at age 22.Later in life, he wandered from his faith. A young woman used this hymn to encourage him to ret ...
''.
The 2010s
In 2010, Boyé performed the single, "Born to Be a Scout", at the National Scout Jamboree
In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouts and/or Girl Guides who rally at a national or international level.
History
The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom. Since then, there have been t ...
at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Boyé was signed to Deseret Book
Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), th ...
's Shadow Mountain label.[ In August 2010, he was a featured soloist in a concert connected at the re-dedication of a Catholic church in ]St. George, Utah
St. George or Saint George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The cit ...
.
Songs by Boyé have appeared in movie soundtracks including ''Charly'' (2002), '' The Dance'', ''Baptists at Our Barbecue
''Baptists at Our Barbecue'' is a 2004 comedy film based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Robert Farrell Smith. It was directed, and produced by Christian Vuissa. This film features some the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Ch ...
'' and '' Church Ball''.
Boyé was featured in a video by The Piano Guys
The Piano Guys is an American musical group consisting of pianist Jon Schmidt, cellist Steven Sharp Nelson, videographer Paul Anderson, and music producer Al van der Beek. Originating in Utah, they gained popularity through YouTube, where in ...
, released in January 2012 as "Peponi", a cover of Coldplay
Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
's "Paradise
In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
" on YouTube. In early 2013 he did a cover of the Lumineers' "Ho Hey" that also generated a large number of YouTube hits.
In early 2013, Boyé signed with Wenrick-Birtcher Entertainment (Eddie Wenrick & Baron R. Birtcher) as his managers. In March 2013, Boyé opened for a performance by Olivia Newton-John
Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
at the Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
.[Shute, "British Mormons"] A documentary DVD entitled ''Front Man'' telling Boyé's story has also been produced. In 2013, Boye released a song entitled "I Am Gold".
In early 2014, he, along with the One Voice Children's Choir, created an Africanized tribal version of the popular song "Let It Go
"Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film '' Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song was performed in its original show ...
" from the movie '' Frozen''. The video went viral, propelling Boyé's combined YouTube views to over 100 million. It was selected as YouTube's best pop cover of 2014.
He also released his Lemonade video on YouTube with more than 1.7 million views
Boyé had a role in the 2014 film '' Saints and Soldiers: The Void''. He also released a YouTube music video to promote the film. He attained some acclaim for his cover of Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
's song "Shake It Off
"Shake It Off" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her fifth studio album, '' 1989'' (2014). She wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Inspired by the media scrutiny on Swif ...
", with over 600,000 views, as of 1 January 2015.
In December 2014, Boyé released an original Christmas song and YouTube video entitled "Newborn – Wise Men Still Seek Him".
In January 2015, Boyé released an Africanised version of " Circle of Life", with proceeds from the sale going to the koinsforkenya mission. In 2015, Boyé was awarded the Governor's Mansion Artist Award.
In June 2015, Boyé and his band, Changing Lanes Experience, performed their version of Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" on the 10th season of ''America's Got Talent
''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...
''. After receiving great comments from the judges, they advanced into the next round to perform on Judge Cuts Week. In August 2015, he and the band were eliminated on Judge Cuts Week 4 after performing their version of Mark Ronson
Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...
and Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...
' "Uptown Funk
"Uptown Funk" is a song by British record producer Mark Ronson featuring American singer Bruno Mars. It was released on 10 November 2014, as the lead single from Ronson's fourth studio album, '' Uptown Special'' (2015). "Uptown Funk" was wri ...
".
In September 2015, Boye was announced to be cast as The Heavenly Guide in the remake of the film ''Saturday's Warrior
''Saturday's Warrior'' is a religious-themed musical written by Douglass Stewart and Lex de Azevedo about a family who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The musical tells the story of a group of children ...
''. It was released in Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
theaters on 1 April 2016 before expanding it to various other states in the following weeks and months.
In early 2016 Boye and the Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...
Men's Chorus released a version of Christopher Tin
Christopher Chiyan Tin (born May 21, 1976) is an American composer of art music, composing for film, television, and video game soundtracks. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He is a two-time Gramm ...
's "Baba Yetu
"Baba Yetu" (Swahili language, Swahili: "Our Father") is the main theme song for the 2005 video game ''Civilization IV''. It was composed by Christopher Tin and performed by Ron Ragin and the Stanford Talisman. For its re-release in Tin's debut ...
", the theme music to the video game ''Civilization IV
''Civilization IV'' (also known as ''Sid Meier's Civilization IV'') is a 2005 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It is the fourth installment of the ''Civilization'' series and was designed by S ...
'' with lyrics adapted from the Biblical Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...
in Swahili.
Boyé appeared in a duet with Marie Osmond
Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and businesswoman. She is known for her girl next door, girl-next-door image and her decades-long career in many different areas. Her musi ...
on her album '' Music Is Medicine'' that was released on 15 April 2016. The video for the song "Then There's You" was released on the video streaming site Vevo
Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
on 27 March 2016 and features the duo performing in a Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
backdrop at Caesars Palace Hotel and the Paris Hotel. Boyé was cast as Pastor Aiken in ''Drop Off'', which was a family film.
Boyé was selected as the "Grand Prize Winner" of the Hard Rock Rising 2017 Battle of the Bands. That same year, Boyé performed as the guest artist for the 2017 Mormon Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Concert, performing a mix of originals and covers.
In September 2018, Boyé released the single "Bend Not Break", which focuses on suicide prevention and was produced by Randy Jackson
Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013.
Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...
(American Idol). The music video was filmed in Herriman, Utah
Herriman ( ) is a city in southwestern Salt Lake County, Utah. The population was 55,144 as of the 2020 census. Although Herriman was a town in 2000, it has since been classified as a third-class city by state law. The city has experienced rapi ...
with help from over 1,000 students from Herriman High, as well as members of the community.
Personal life
Boyé met his wife, Julie, in an LDS Church singles ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
[ and they were married in the ]Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...
on 6 January 2007. They have eight children.
In 2009, Boyé began raising money to buy a house for a local refugee family with sales of his single, "Crazy for You".
On 22 February 2012, Boyé became a United States citizen in a ceremony at the Rose Wagner Theater in Salt Lake City. He was surprised when he was invited by the judge conducting the ceremony to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...
".
Discography
Albums
*''Testimony'' (2004)
*''Spirit'' (2007)
*''Be Still, My Soul: Classic Hymns & Folk Songs'' (2009)
*''Africanized'' (2014)
*''African Gospel Inspirations'' (2016)
*''Coming to Amerika'' (2019)
EPs
*''Hope for Israel'' (2011)
*''We All Bleed the Same'' (2016)
*''Africanized Christmas'' (2016)
Singles
Filmography
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
Boye entry
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. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
*
External links
*
*
''Peponi''
an African-stylized cover of Coldplay's ''Paradise'' with Alex Boyé, Jon Schmidt, and Steven Sharp Nelson, on YouTube
''Alex Boye performs the national anthem after becoming a U.S. Citizen''
on YouTube
;Interviews
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boye, Alex
English male singers
American male singers
English male musical theatre actors
American male musical theatre actors
English male dancers
American male dancers
Tabernacle Choir members
English Mormon missionaries
Mormon missionaries in England
1970 births
Singers from London
Actors from the London Borough of Haringey
African-American Latter Day Saints
Converts to Mormonism
English emigrants to the United States
English people of Nigerian descent
American musicians of Nigerian descent
Naturalized citizens of the United States
20th-century Mormon missionaries
20th-century English singers
21st-century English singers
Living people
People from Tottenham
Male actors from London
America's Got Talent contestants