What Happened? Tevin Campbell

Tevin Campbell

Tevin Campbell, was born November 12, 1976 in Waxahachie Texas. Campbell began by singing gospel, first as a choir member, and then as a soloist at Jacob's Chapel in a small town just south of Dallas, Texas.

In 1988, a friend of Campbell's mother arranged for him to audition for jazz flutist Bobbie Humphrey by singing over the phone to her in New York. Humphrey took an interest in Campbell and submitted an audio and videotape to Warner Bros. This led to a meeting with Benny Medina, the Warner's senior vice president and general sales manager of black music.

Campbell was introduced to the R&B world by Quincy Jones in August 1989. Campbell's debut single was "Tomorrow (A Better You Better Me)" which reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip hop Singles chart in June 1990. Tevin recorded a vocal version of a 1976 instrumental by The Brothers Johnson. It was the lead single from Jones' critically acclaimed ensemble LP Back on the Block which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1991. Campbell's first solo hit was "Round and Round", which charted at #3 on R&B charts in November 1990 and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1991 was produced by Prince and was featured in Prince's film Graffiti Bridge. After his appearance in the 1990 film Graffiti Bridge, Campbell made a guest appearance the following year on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, playing fictional teen idol, "Little T", a celebrity crush and date of Ashley's in the first season episode, "Just Infatuation". In a later episode, he was referenced when Will threatened to destroy Ashley's Tevin Campbell posters after she plays with Will's autographed baseball.

Campbell followed the success of his first two singles by releasing his debut album, T.E.V.I.N., in November 1991 which featured the R&B hit singles and Campbell's #1 R&B hit: "Tell Me What You Want Me To Do" followed by:, "Alone with You", and "Goodbye". The CD was nominated for a Grammy in the category best R&B male vocal performance in 1993

October 1993, Tevin follow the success of debut CD with a mature sophomore offering. “I’m Ready” yielded the US top ten pop and #1 R&B hit "Can We Talk" in December 1993; "I'm Ready", a US top ten and top five R&B hit and "Always in My Heart" which charted at the US Hot 100 top twenty and #3 on the R&B chart. He also scored a Top 30 R&B hit with a fourth single, "Don't Say Goodbye Girl. In September 1994, Campbell also scored an R&B hit with the single "U Will Know" as part of the R&B supergroup Black Men United. In 1995 he sang two songs featured in A Goofy Movie which were "Eye to Eye" and "Stand Out. Tevin would again be nominated for a Grammy for best R & B male vocal for the cut “Can We Talk” in 1994 and in 1995, he was nominated for best R & B male performance and R & B Album for “I’m Ready”.

In 1995, Campbell voiced the character Powerline in Disney's A Goofy Movie, singing the songs were "I2I" and "stand out". He also appeared singing "The Closer I Get to You" with Brandy on the September 28, 1995 "NY Undercover" episode called "Digital Underground.Com". The year 1996 saw the release of his third album, Back to the World (#11 R&B). The title track was a success (hitting the R&B Top 20), but additional singles failed to make an impact on the chart. His early 1999 self-titled album found Campbell venturing into the neo-soul venue. The project was rushed, and as a result charted below the R&B Top 30, with only a single charting, a Top 30 song called "Another Way.

In September 1999, Campbell was arrested after soliciting a lewd act from an undercover police officer during a sting operation in Van Nuys, California. The sting operation was reportedly conducted in an area where there had been numerous complaints from the public about cruising and solicitation. According to police reports, Campbell was also in possession of a small amount of marijuana at the time of his arrest.

Campbell pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor of solicitation, and as a result was ordered to pay $1080.50 in fines, attend meetings of Narcotics Anonymous and participate in a court-sanctioned AIDS awareness class. He returned to court in February 2000 to provide proof that he had completed the requirements of his sentence.

Campbell played the role of Seaweed J. Stubbs in the Broadway musical Hairspray. He joined the cast in December 2005. In 2009, Campbell made an appearance at the 2009 BET Awards as he paid tribute to The O'Jays with Trey Songz, Tyrese, and Johnny Gill.

In May 2010, Campbell performed on The Mo'Nique Show. He said that many people wanted him to work again on music and is thinking about a comeback. In November 2010, he was featured on the remake of a song by Quincy Jones called "Secret Garden". The remake features Usher, Robin Thicke, Tyrese Gibson, LL Cool J & Barry White. TVOne's hit show Life After will feature Campbell's life and career, as well as updates on his comeback. Air dates are scheduled for early 2012.

Campbell is currently reprising his role of Seaweed in the Broadway musical, Hairspray in the Melbourne & Sydney production in Australia