P.J. Morton (born Paul Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American Grammy winning musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been one of the keyboardists, alongside Jesse Carmichael, for the pop rock band

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

. Morton originally joined the band as a touring member in 2010 and became an official member in 2012 after Carmichael went on indefinite hiatus (he returned to the lineup in 2014). Morton released his debut solo EP, ''Following My First Mind'', in March 2012, through the record label Young Money. Adam Levine and James Valentine were featured on the lead single, "Heavy". In May 2013, Morton released his first major-label debut album, ''

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Gumbo'', earning Morton two Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. In April 2019, Morton said he would begin a project to restore the New Orleans home of jazz pioneer

Buddy Bolden Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden (September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931) was an African American cornetist who was regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of ragtime music, or "jass", which later ...

and create a museum and community space at the site. Bolden's former home has been owned by Morton's father's church for more than a decade, and had been cited for demolition by neglect.

Early life and education

Morton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father is Canadian-born American gospel singer and Founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship,

Bishop Paul S. Morton Paul Sylvester Morton (born July 30, 1950) is an American Baptist pastor. He is the senior pastor of Changing a Generation Full Gospel Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and co-pastor of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Or ...

. His mother is Dr. Debra Brown Morton, pastor of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. Morton graduated St. Augustine High School and majored in marketing at

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

, graduating in 2003.

Career

Maroon 5

In 2010, Morton's friend and

's musical director Adam Blackstone asked him to audition for a position in the band as a touring keyboardist and backing vocalist. Morton was the first to audition and left an indelible mark on the group. Since then, he has played with Maroon 5 in concerts and other live performances. From 2012 to 2014 Morton filled-in for the band's keyboardist, Jesse Carmichael, who was on an indefinite hiatus from performing with the group, as stated on their official website in March 2012. In 2012, he joined the band as a full-time member, contributing his vocal and keyboard parts on Maroon 5's fourth studio album, '' Overexposed'', and continuing to do so during the processes of recording the band's albums, '' V'' (2014), '' Red Pill Blues'' (2017), and '' Jordi'' (2021).

Signing to Young Money and ''New Orleans''

Morton's solo work won the attention of Mack Maine, who signed him to his production company, Soothe Your Soul, and Young Money Entertainment in 2011. The ''Following My First Mind'' (EP) was released on March 27, 2012. On May 14, 2013, Morton released his major-label debut studio album with Young Money Records, titled ''

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, was nominated for the Best R&B Song at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014.

''Gumbo'' and ''Paul''

In 2016, Morton moved to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

omethingbeautiful. I wanted to grow as a songwriter and talk about more things ... about where we are in the world today, the tension, how divided we are as a country. It kind of felt like I was dumping a bunch of subject matter together and I made it in New Orleans so that sounded like gumbo to me." As a first step, on March 25, 2016, Morton released ''Bounce & Soul Vol. 1'', a mixtape which includes re-imagined versions of his best songs in New Orleans' bounce style. On July 1, 2016, Morton released the ''Sticking to My Guns'' EP, featuring the single of the same name. The EP, besides including alternative versions of "First Began" and "Sticking to My Guns", also contains "Say So", a song that was later cut from the final tracklist of the album. On November 15, 2016, Morton released "You Should Be Ashamed", a Stevie Wonder-esque socially conscious song that was later replaced by "Religion". On March 13, 2017, Morton announced on his Instagram page April 14, 2017 as the release date of '' Gumbo''. ''Gumbo'' did not manage to enter on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart but received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented Morton's style and praised him for his singing and songwriting. The album earned Morton two

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 ...

nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. On February 14, 2019, Morton collaborated with singer

JoJo Jojo, JoJo or Jo Jo is a given name, surname, nickname or stage name used by several people and fictional characters, including: People with the given name, nickname or stage name Musicians *JoJo (singer) (born 1990), American R&B singer, songwri ...

on the song " Say So", which served as the lead single for his sixth album '' Paul''.

Other work

After winning Grammy Awards for his songwriting and production on India.Arie's ''Interested'', Morton won Dove and

Stellar Stellar means anything related to one or more stars (''stella''). The term may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Stellar'' (magazine), an Irish lifestyle and fashion magazine * Stellar Loussier, a character from ''Mobile Suit Gun ...

Awards in 2008. Morton was also noticed by AR Rahman, composer for '' Slumdog Millionaire'', who asked Morton to contribute "Sajna" to the soundtrack and movie for the Vince Vaughn comedy '' Couples Retreat''. Morton has also produced and written for musicians such as Jermaine Dupri,

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

, Jagged Edge,

Monica Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

, India.Arie, gospel musicians Fred Hammond, Men of Standard, Brian Courtney Wilson, and

Heather Headley Heather Headley (born October 5, 1974) is a Trinidadian-born American singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the titular role of ''Aida''. She also won the 2010 Grammy Aw ...

. In 2009, he published a book entitled ''Why Can't I Sing About Love?'' Morton who wrote a song called "Battle Field" by Chinese singer Jane Zhang from the 2016 film ''

The Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...

''.

Personal life

He married his wife Kortni Morton on December 25, 2008. They grew up attending the same church and began dating as adults. They have three children.

Filmography

Composer

Discography

As solo artist

Studio albums * ''Emotions'' (2005) * ''Walk Alone'' (2010) * ''

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Gumbo'' (2017) * ''Christmas with PJ Morton'' (2018) * '' Paul'' (2019) * '' Gospel According to PJ: From the Songbook of PJ Morton'' (2020) * ''Watch the Sun'' (2022) Live albums * ''Live from LA'' (2008) * ''Live Show Killer'' (2015) * '' Gumbo Unplugged'' (2018) * ''The Piano Album'' (2020) Mixtape * ''Bounce & Soul Volume 1'' (2016) EPs * ''Following My First Mind'' (2012) * ''Sticking to My Guns'' (2016)

With the PJ Morton Band

* ''Perfect Song'' (2007)

With Maroon 5

*'' Overexposed'' (2012) *'' V'' (2014) *'' Red Pill Blues'' (2017) *'' Jordi'' (2021)

Remixes

2017 * "The Cat Looks at the King (PJ Morton Remix)" – Collapsing Scenery featuring Good Joon and Buddy

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards 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 ...

, - , rowspan=2, 2013 , "

Payphone A payphone (alternative spelling: pay phone) is typically a coin-operated public telephone, often located in a telephone booth or in high-traffic outdoor areas, with prepayment by inserting money (usually coins) or by billing a credit or debit ...

" , Best Pop Duo/Group Performance , , - , '' Overexposed'' , Best Pop Vocal Album , , - , 2014 , "Only One" , Best R&B Song , , - , 2016 , "

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

" , Best Pop Duo/Group Performance , , - , rowspan=2, 2018 , '' Gumbo'' , Best R&B Album , , - , rowspan=2, "First Began" , Best R&B Song , , - , rowspan=4, 2019 , Best R&B Performance , , - , "

Girls Like You "Girls Like You" is a song recorded by American band Maroon 5 from their sixth studio album ''Red Pill Blues'' (2017). The track was written by lead singer Adam Levine, Starrah, Gian Stone, Cirkut (record producer), Cirkut, and Jason Evigan, wit ...

" , Best Pop Duo/Group Performance , , - , "

How Deep Is Your Love How Deep Is Your Love or How Deep Is Your Love? may refer to: * How Deep Is Your Love (Bee Gees song), "How Deep Is Your Love" (Bee Gees song), 1977, covered by Take That * "How Deep Is Your Love" (Keith Sweat song), 1987 * How Deep Is Your Love ( ...

" , Best Traditional R&B Performance , , - , '' Gumbo Unplugged'' , Best R&B Album , , - , rowspan=3, 2020 , " Say So" , Best R&B Song , , - , "Built for Love" , Best Traditional R&B Performance , , - , '' Paul'' , Best R&B Album , , - , 2021 , '' Gospel According to PJ: From the Songbook of PJ Morton'' , Best Gospel Album , , - , rowspan=2, 2022 , "Bring It On Home To Me" , Best Traditional R&B Performance , , - , '' We Are'' ,

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, , - , rowspan=2, 2023 , "Please Don't Walk Away" , Best R&B Song , , - , ''Watch the Sun'' , Best R&B Album ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, PJ 1981 births Grammy Award winners Living people St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) alumni Morehouse College alumni Maroon 5 members Musicians from New Orleans Young Money Entertainment artists 21st-century American composers American soul singers American male singer-songwriters African-American male singers Cash Money Records artists Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American singers African-American songwriters Singer-songwriters from Louisiana