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Tony Rich | |
|---|---|
 Tony Rich in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Antonio Jeffries |
| Also known as | The Tony Rich Project |
| Born | (1971-11-19)November 19, 1971 (age 53) |
| Origin | Detroit,Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, record producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, keyboards |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | Francis-Lyn, LLC , Rich Media, Hidden Beach,LaFace |
| Website | thetonyrichproject |
Antonio Jeffries (born November 19, 1971), better known asTony Rich andThe Tony Rich Project, is an AmericanGrammy-award-winning Contemporary singer-songwriter best known for his hit single "Nobody Knows".
Rich was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States,[1] and first attracted attention through the production team ofTim & Bob. The duo convincedPerri "Pebbles" Reid (then the wife ofL.A. Reid, co-founder ofLaFace Records) to listen to Rich over the phone. Rich was hired as a house songwriter for LaFace Records, penning hit singles for artists such asToni Braxton,Boyz II Men,TLC, A Few Good Men andJohnny Gill.[1] As incoming Vice President of A&R,Eddie F then convincedL.A. Reid to sign him as an artist.[1] Later, Rich mixed elements ofjazz, rock andsoul music into his owntracks.
After signing withLaFace Records as an artist, Rich began work on his debut album.[1] The set's lead single "Nobody Knows" was released in November 1995,[1] and became ahit single, making it to No. 2 on theBillboard Hot 100 the following year.[2] Under themoniker "The Tony Rich Project," he released his debut albumWords in early 1996.[1] Both the album and single wentplatinum. 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 filmFled[3] and "You're a Winner" to theRhythm of the Games: 1996 Olympic Games Album compilation.
The following year, Rich received fourGrammy Award nominations includingBest New Artist,Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("Nobody Knows"),Best R&B Album ("Words"), andBest Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Like a Woman"). And he won the award forBest R&B Album.
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 bySam Salter,Michael Bolton, 4.0, andAaron Neville.
He made his feature film debut, portrayingDuke Ellington in the 1997 crime dramaHoodlum.[4] He recorded the track "Harlem is Home" for the movie soundtrack.[5]
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 albumBirdseye was released on August 8, 1998, and peaked at No. 66 on theBillboard 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.[6] That same year, he was commissioned to produce a few remixes for theSpice Girls hit single "Viva Forever" in addition to doing some appearances/production work on albums byCeCe Winans andEric Clapton.
With hisBirdseye album's cycle cut short, he took some time off to work on various projects.[6]
In 1999, he recorded a remake of the classic song "If This World Were Mine" with Grenique for theMarvin is 60 compilation tribute album.[7] 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 theGuy reunion albumGuy 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.[8]
In 2003, Rich returned with his third albumResurrected which marked his first release as an independent artist.[9] 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 albumExist. The first single from the album "Part the Waves" was released as a digital single, and the album soon followed on September 23, 2008.[10]
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.[11]
In 2009, he began preparations to release a new studio album titledSpeak 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[12] but eventually shelved.[13] However, snippets of the album were made available through Hidden Beach Recordings' Soundcloud account.[14]
The latest release from The Tony Rich Project isEncaustic, released in October 2017.
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [15] | US R&B [15] | AUS [16] | UK [17] | |||
| Words |
| 31 | 18 | 31 | 27 | |
| Birdseye |
| — | 66 | — | — | |
| Resurrected |
| — | — | — | — | |
| Pictures |
| — | — | — | — | |
| A New Understanding of Peace(with Shelia Evans) |
| — | — | — | — | |
| Exist |
| — | 31 | — | — | |
| Encaustic |
| — | — | — | — | |
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| Nobody Knows: The Best Of |
|
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [15] | US AC [15] | US R&B [15] | US Pop [15] | US Adult Pop [15] | US Rhy. [15] | AUS [16] | UK [17] | |||
| 1995 | "Nobody Knows" | 2 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 1996 | "Like a Woman" | 41 | 30 | 42 | 28 | — | 24 | 71 | 27 | |
| 1997 | "Leavin'" | 88 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | 52 | |
| 1998 | "Silly Man" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | "Traveling Alone" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Red Wine" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | "Part the Waves" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2013 | "Fade Away" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Breaking Glass" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
