Eddie Levert

Eddie Levert
Birth name	Edward Levert
Born	June 16, 1942 Birmingham, Alabama, US
Genres	R&B Soul Blues Gospel
Occupation(s)	Singer–songwriter musician producer
Instruments	Vocals drums piano percussion
Years active	1958–present
Labels	EMI Philadelphia Int'l Columbia
Associated acts	Gerald Levert LeVert Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Teddy Pendergrass MFSB

Edward "Eddie" Levert (born June 16, 1942) is an American singer–songwriter and actor. Levert is best known as the lead vocalist of the R&B/Soul vocal group, The O'Jays.^[1]

Biography

Levert was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but was raised in Canton, Ohio. While attending high school, he met buddies Walter Williams, Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, and William Powell. They were motivated to sing after seeing a performance from Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. They formed in 1958. The O'Jays were originally known as The Triumphs and The Mascots. They were officially known as The O'Jays after they got their name from DJ Eddie O'Jay. Their first big hit was "Lonely Drifter"in 1963 which was lifted off their debut album Comin Through. The O'Jays are mainly known by their hits "Back Stabbers", "Love Train" and "For the Love of Money". Levert starred and performed in the movie (The Fighting Temptations) and performed the song "He Still Loves Me"in 2003. Levert and his group members received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 BET Awards.

Personal life

Levert is the father of the late R&B singers Gerald Levert, who died on November 10, 2006, Sean Levert, who died on March 30, 2008 and Eddie Levert Jr., CEO of Levert Entertainment Group, a Music label headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. The relationships between Eddie Sr. and Gerald became a subject of a book, I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep It Real about Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship issued in 2007 (ISBN 0767927443, ISBN 0-7679-2760-5). LeVert is the third cousin of Michigan basketball star, Caris LeVert.^[2]

References

1. Hogan, Ed. "Biography: Eddie LeVert". AMG. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
2. Franklin, Drew (2014-03-05). "College Basketball Road Trip: Michigan —€” The most interesting team in the world". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2015-11-26. C1 control character in |title= at position 41 (help)