T.Q.

Influenced by the West Coast hip-hop of 2Pac and Ice-T, and the classic soul of Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, Terence Quaites, aka TQ, scored a string of hit singles in the late '90s with a sound self-described as "Reality R&B." Born in Compton, CA in 1976, he began his musical career in his teens as one fourth of B-Boy group Coming of Age, who reached the Billboard Top 30 with debut single "Coming Home to Love," before disbanding in 1995. Three years later, he returned to the music scene as a solo artist, armed with a sound that combined tough lyrics with melodic, soulful vocals, and achieved huge success in the U.S. and Europe with the tracks "Westside" and "Bye Bye Baby," and their parent album They Never Saw Me Coming. Future LPs, The Second Coming (2000) and Listen (2004) saw diminishing returns, but TQ continued to record material throughout the decade, with Gemini (2007), Paradise (2008), and Kind of Blue (2010), all following, while various collaborations with Lil Wayne, German pop star Sarah Connor, and Czech composer Jan Hammer kept his name in the spotlight. In 2006, he embarked on an acting career which resulted in roles in Richard III and The Devil's Grind, while in 2011, he launched a U.K. comeback with the track "Uh Oh," a duet with urban songstress Danielle Senior. ~ Jon O'Brien