Jermaine Paul

Jermaine Paul
Background information
Birth name	Jeremiah Jermaine Paul
Also known as	JP, Preacher
Born	(1979-07-26) July 26, 1979 Harriman, New York, United States
Genres	R&B, soul, rock, gospel
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
Years active	1996–present
Labels	T.W.Is.M Records, A&M, Universal Republic, Republic
Associated acts	1Accord, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton

Jermaine Paul (born July 26, 1979) is an American R&B/soul artist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.^[1] He was the winner of the second season of The Voice. Prior to his The Voice stint, he was co-nominated at the 48th Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals,^[2] in a collaborative work with Alicia Keys as the featured artist.

Early life

Jeremiah Jermaine Paul was born on July 26, 1978, in Harriman, New York, and was raised in Spring Valley, New York. He is the fifth of 10 children.^[3] "While in Spring Valley, his dad made sure the kids stayed out of trouble and away from drugs by turning their living room into a musical performance area," SUCCESS magazine wrote. "It was loaded with instruments—piano, drums and guitars—and some of the kids, including Jermaine, formed a group to perform gospel songs in local churches." By the time he was 12 years old, he began to acquire a reputation for singing at local churches and talent shows with his family. Jermaine joined numerous adult choirs.^[1]

At the age of two, Jermaine and his brother (Charles Paul) moved to Alabama with their grandfather. There, he was introduced to the guitar. He played his step-grandmother's old Gibson guitar at the local church. With some knowledge of the guitar, and the yearning to go back to New York, he wrote his first song.^[1]

At the age of 14, he moved up-state to Harriman, New York (Hudson Valley). There he attended Monroe-Woodbury High School and was introduced to rock and jazz. While taking guitar lessons he was selected to join the all-state, all-county chorus, and the classically trained high school voice ensemble.^[1]

Music career

At 15, Paul joined a quartet group named 1Accord signing to basketball star Shaquille O'Neal's label, T.W.Is.M Records. He began writing and producing songs of his own. Paul auditioned for the first season of American Idol but did not receive any callbacks from the producers.^[1] He began recording backing vocals for artists such as Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Joss Stone, Blackstreet and Jaguar Wright.^[1] Very notably he was nominated for a Grammy for the category "Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals" for "If This World Were Mine" by Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul. The track was from the J Records album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross.^[4]

The Voice

In 2012, he auditioned for the second season of The Voice singing "Complicated" from Avril Lavigne. Two of the four judges turned their chairs on (Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green) with Paul opting to be on Team Blake.

He was the eventual winner of the second season with Juliet Simms as runner-up.

Performances on The Voice

After The Voice

His winning song, a cover of "I Believe I Can Fly" made it up to #83 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up, "Soul Man", with his coach Blake Shelton did not break the Hot 100, reaching just #108.

His single "I Believe in This Life" reportedly taken from his forthcoming album premiered on The Voice on November 8, 2012.^[5]

Discography

Singles

• ^ADid not enter the Hot 100 but charted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.^[6]

Appearances

Singles as back up vocals

References

External links

• Jermaine Paul's official fansite
• Jermaine Paul's Myspace page
• Jermaine Paul's Twitter page
• Jermaine Paul's Facebook page