Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter.[1] He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat.[2] Gill has released eight solo albums, three albums with New Edition, two albums with LSG, and one collaborative album with Stacy Lattisaw. Gill has sold over 15 million copies worldwide as a solo artist.
Early life
Gill was born on May 22, 1966, in Washington, D.C.,[2] the son of Johnny Gill Sr., a Baptist minister,[3] and his wife, Annie Mae Gill,[4] who had four boys. He started singing at the age of five, performing in church in a family gospel group called Little Johnny and "Wings of Faith".[2] The group included his brothers Bobby, Jeff, and Randy Gill, a solo recording artist and member of the group II D Extreme.
Gill attended Kimball Elementary, Sousa Junior High, and Duke Ellington School of the Arts. His career dictated that he complete his high-school education through the services of a tutor. Gill planned to attend college to pursue a degree in electrical engineering, but decided to focus on his singing career.[5]
Gill's recording career began in 1982, at the age of 16, when his childhood friend Stacy Lattisaw convinced him to record a demo. This demo fell into the hands of the president of Atlantic Records, and his first self-titled debut album was released shortly thereafter on Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion Records.[2] Gill then teamed up with Stacy for the duet album Perfect Combination. A second solo album on Cotillion Records, Chemistry, was released in 1985.[2]
New Edition
Gill began a new chapter in his career in 1987, when he was recruited by Michael Bivins to join New Edition.[2] Bobby Brown had been voted out of the group and Gill was brought in to replace lead singer Ralph Tresvant, who was rumored at the time to be leaving to pursue a solo career. Gill became the only member of New Edition who was not from Boston. With Gill, the oldest member, as one of the lead singers (along with Tresvant, who ended up staying with New Edition and delaying the launch of his solo career) on the album Heart Break, the group developed a more mature, adult sound, hitting the charts with songs such as "Can You Stand The Rain", "N.E. Heartbreak", "If It Isn't Love", and the Gill-led "Boys To Men".
In 1993, Gill released another solo project, Provocative,[2] which included the songs "Quiet Time to Play", "A Cute, Sweet, Love Addiction", and the gospel song, "I Know Where I Stand".
In 1996, Gill released Let's Get the Mood Right, which included the song, "Love In an Elevator", and the single "Maybe". The same year, Johnny reunited with New Edition and recorded the album Home Again.
LSG
In 1997, he collaborated with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat to form the supergroupLSG (Levert/Sweat/Gill),[2] which yielded the multi- platinum debut album, Levert.Sweat.Gill, and their final album LSG2 in 2003. In 2004, he reunited with New Edition; they signed with Bad Boy Records and released the album One Love, which included the single "Hot 2Nite".
Return to solo career
In 2011, 15 years after recording his last solo album, Gill returned with Still Winning, which included "In the Mood", "Just the Way You Are", "It Would Be You", and "2nd Place". In 2014, Gill left Fontana Records and started his own label, J Skillz Records, on which he released the album Game Changer. The album produced several adult R&B radio hits, including the singles "Behind Closed Doors" and the title track, "Game Changer". His New Edition bandmates appear on "This One's for Me and You". Gill joined Fantasia as an opener for Charlie Wilson's In It to Win It tour, which kicked off in February 2017.[6] On September 6, 2019, Gill released his album Game Changer II. Beginning in 2023, Gill enjoyed a resurgence of popularity with his song, "Rub You the Right Way" on the popular social media app TikTok, with various influencers using the song for their videos.
In 1991, Gill won two Soul Train Awards: for Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Album of the Year – Male (for Johnny Gill) and for Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Single (for "My My My").
In 2019, Gill won the SoulTracks Readers' Choice Award for Album of the Year (for Game Changer II).[7]
