Eugene Allen Booker, Jr. (born December 19, 1962), known professionally as Chuckii Booker, is an American producer,

singer Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Biography

Booker emerged in the late 1980s as an urban contemporary R&B artist and producer. He began recording music after being signed by his godfather,

Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...

, to his production company in 1984. Later, he played keyboards with the short-lived

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

band Tease for three years. Booker received his recording contract in an unlikely manner. He gave his demo tape to the manager of

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright (born August 30, 1957) is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for the albums ''24/7 (Gerald Albright and Norman Brown album), 24/7'' in 2012 and ''Slam Dunk'' in 2014 and was nominated for ''New Beginnings (Gerald Albr ...

to showcase his skills as a musician, but had forgotten about the songs on the other side of the tape that contained original songs with his vocals. As a result, he was offered a recording contract with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. Booker signed a recording contract with Atlantic to release his debut album ''Chuckii'' in 1989 in which he played all the instruments and sang all vocals. The album fared well on the strength of hit singles "(Don't U Know) I Love U" and the #1 R&B single "Turned Away". The follow-up and its final studio album to date (as of 2024) ''Niice 'N Wiild'' was released in 1992 and yielded another chart-topping R&B hit "

Games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

". After the release of ''Niice 'N Wiild'', Booker retired from recording music. Booker produced for several recording artists throughout the years, including

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

, which yielded two #1 singles ("

All I Do Is Think of You "All I Do Is Think of You" is a song released by the Jackson 5 on the Motown label in 1975. It was initially released as the B-side to the group's single "Forever Came Today" before being released as an A-side single months later. The song is the ...

" & " Spread My Wings"), his godfather

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, model, producer and dancer. She gained recognition as the first Black woman to win the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She would later Vanes ...

, Demetrius Ross,

Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...

and many more. He was the musical director, producer and keyboardist for

's Rhythm Nation World Tour as well as the opening act. Booker got the gig after he was invited by Jackson to the premiere of her long-form video ''Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814''. Although Booker went to the premiere to mingle with celebrities, he was caught off guard when Jackson asked him after the screening to be her musical director for the tour. Booker has produced records for artists such as Lalah Hathaway,

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...

, Angela Winbush,

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

Anastacia Anastacia Lyn Newkirk ( ; born September 17, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. Her first two studio albums, '' Not That Kind'' (2000) and '' Freak of Nature'' (2001), achieved chart success with the singles " I'm Outta Love", " Not That Ki ...

, Commissioned,

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

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 ...

, and

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

. He has a net worth of $3 million.

Personal life

Booker was born in Los Angeles, California on December 19, 1962. Booker has never married and has no children. Retrieved .

Discography

Albums

Tease (as keyboardist and songwriter): * 1986: ''Tease'' (

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

) As solo artist:

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Booker, Chuckii 1962 births Living people African-American songwriters American male singer-songwriters Record producers from California Singer-songwriters from California American contemporary R&B singers 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians