George McCrae | |
|---|---|
.jpg) McCrae at the 2015Miami International Film Festival | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | George Warren McCrae Jr. |
| Born | (1944-10-19)October 19, 1944 (age 80) West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Soul,disco,funk |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | georgemccrae |
George Warren McCrae Jr. (born October 19, 1944)[1] is an Americansoul anddiscosinger who is most famous for his 1974 hit "Rock Your Baby".
McCrae was the second of nine children, born inWest Palm Beach,Florida.[1] He formed his own singing group, the Jivin' Jets, before joining theUnited States Navy in 1963.[2] He marriedGwen McCrae (née Mosley) in 1963.[1] Four years later, he re-formed the group, with his wife Gwen joining the lineup, but soon afterwards they decided to work as a duo, recording forHenry Stone's Alston record label. Gwen then won a solo contract, with George acting as her manager as well as doing some singing on sessions and in clubs inPalm Beach.[3][4]
He was about to return to college to study law enforcement, whenRichard Finch andHarry Wayne Casey ofKC and the Sunshine Band invited him to sing the lyrics for a song that they had recorded for the band, but could not reach the high notes that were required for the song. The original intention was that Gwen, his wife, should record it, but she was late for the session and George recorded alone.[3][4] It suited his high-pitched voice to the extent that the song, "Rock Your Baby", became one of the first hits of the disco era in 1974, selling an estimated eleven million copies worldwide,[5]topping thecharts in the U.S. and the UK. The song was so successful thatRolling Stonemagazine voted it the No. 1 song of the year in 1974.[2] McCrae received aGrammy Award nomination for Best Male R&B Vocalist the following year.
Two furthersingle releases, "I Can't Leave You Alone", backed by "I Get Lifted", and "It's Been So Long," also reached theUK Singles ChartTop 10.[6] He recorded several further albums for TK, includingGeorge McCrae (1975) andDiamond Touch (1976),[7] and also continued to record with, and manage, his wife until their divorce in 1976.[4] They had two daughters together, Sophia and Leah.[8][9]
While he continued to record albums includingWe Did It! and his second self-titled albumGeorge McCrae (both 1978), his commercial popularity slipped as the decade progressed.[1] He married a second time, moved to Canada, and entered a period of semi-retirement, leaving TK at the end of the 1970s.[4] With his second wife, he had another daughter, Jennifer McCray.[10]
He returned with the albumOne Step Closer to Love in 1984, the title track from which entered the charts in the United Kingdom and Belgium. In 1988, he had a daughter, Marcella, with his then-girlfriend, Rosanna Molignini.[11][12] He moved to the villageMunstergeleen in theNetherlands and remarried again, toDutch model Yvonne Bergsma, in 1989.[13] They have a son, Shaka.[9]
His later albums found some success in Europe, and he continued to perform regularly there. By the 2000s, he shared his time between homes in Florida,Aruba, and the Netherlands. In 2016 McCrae released a new concept album,Love, that was produced by the Dutch producer / composer Roger Heijster. The album was recorded without sequencing using only vintage instruments. Leah and Sophia McCrae, George's two daughters from his first marriage to Gwen McCrae, provide the backing vocals for this album. The album was album of the week in Germany and the single "Sexy Woman" was number one in Mallorca.[citation needed] In December 2017, McCrae performed on the BBC'sHootenanny show hosted byJools Holland.[4][7]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [14] | US R&B [14] | AUS [15] | UK [6][16] | |||
| 1974 | Rock Your Baby | 38 | 7 | 26 | 13 | |
| 1975 | George McCrae | 152 | 24 | — | 21 | |
| Together (withGwen McCrae) | — | 33 | — | — | ||
| 1976 | Diamond Touch | — | — | — | — | |
| 1978 | George McCrae | — | — | — | — | |
| We Did It | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | One Step Closer to Love | — | — | — | — | |
| Own the Night[A] | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | I Feel Love for You | — | — | — | — | |
| 1991 | With All My Heart | — | — | — | — | |
| 1993 | Music Mirror | — | — | — | — | |
| 1995 | Do Something | — | — | — | — | |
| 1996 | Romance | — | — | — | — | |
| 2009 | Time for a Change | — | — | — | — | |
| 2016 | Love | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [14] | US R&B [14] | AUS [15] | GER [18] | AUT [19] | SWI [20] | NED [21] | BEL (FLA) [22] | SWE [23] | NOR [24] | IRE | UK [16] | ||||||
| 1974 | "Rock Your Baby" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 | 1 | Rock Your Baby | |||
| "I Can't Leave You Alone" | 50 | 10 | 92 | 3 | 11 | — | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | 9 | |||||
| "You Can Have It All" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | |||||
| 1975 | "I Get Lifted" | 37 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Look at You" | 95 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Sing a Happy Song" | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | 38 | George McCrae | ||||
| "It's Been So Long" | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 4 |
| ||||
| "I Ain't Lyin'" | — | 31 | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | |||||
| 1976 | "Honey I" | 65 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | — | — | 33 | ||||
| "Love in Motion" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Diamond Touch | ||||
| 1977 | "I'm Gonna Stay with My Baby Tonight" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Kiss Me the Way I Like It" | 110 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | George McCrae (II) | ||||
| 1978 | "Let's Dance" | — | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "(You've Got) My Love, My Life, My Soul" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | We Did It! | ||||
| "I Want You Around Me" | — | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1979 | "Don't You Feel My Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1984 | "One Step Closer (To Love)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 19 | — | — | — | 57 | One Step Closer To Love | |||
| "Listen to Your Heart" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Never Too Late"(NED only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Own the Night" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Own the Night | ||||
| 1985 | "Let's Dance / Never Forgot Your Eyes"(UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Singles only | |||
| 1986 | "Rock Your Baby (Frankfurt Mix)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 92 | ||||
| 1987 | "That's Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | I Feel Love for You | |||
| "Girls Don't Lie"(UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1988 | "Nice and Slow" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Singles only | |||
| 1989 | "Rock Me All the Way"(NED only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1990 | "Breathless"(GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | With All My Heart | |||
| 1991 | "Calling Love"(GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Take This Love of Mine"(GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1994 | "All Around the World (The Fresh Taste of Happiness)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Single only | |||
| 1995 | "Do Something"(GER only) | — | — | — | 82 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Do Something | |||
| "Wanna Be Your Lover"(GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1996 | "Little Things Softly"(GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 2009 | "It's Been So Long 2009"(GER only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Time for a Change | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
