Tevin Campbell

Tevin Campbell went from singing in his Texas church to being a muse for the likes of Quincy Jones and Prince, thanks to his yearning countertenor and deep reserves of emotion. Born in 1976, Campbell got his start in a gospel choir, and in 1988 an over-the-phone audition led to his signing by Jones’ label Qwest Records. Campbell’s first hit, “Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me),” a rework of a Brothers Johnson instrumental, appeared on Jones' 1989 album Back On the Block. The next year, he released his first solo single, the giddy, Prince-penned “Round and Round”; his first full-length album, T.E.V.I.N., followed in 1991 and spawned the hit slow jams “Tell Me What You Want Me to Do” and “Alone With You.” I’m Ready, released in 1993, contained “Can We Talk,” a Babyface-produced plea that became one of the new jack swing era’s most enduring ballads. In the ensuing years, Campbell sang with the supergroup Black Men United, made TV and movie cameos, and released two more albums, 1996’s Back to the World and 1999’s Tevin Campbell. His musical output has been scant in the 21st century, but his legacy among R&B fans looms large.