| Jermaine Paul | |
| Birth Name: | Jeremiah Jermaine Paul |
| Birth Date: | July 26, 1979 |
| Birth Place: | Harriman, New York, U.S. |
| Genre: | R&B, gospel |
| Occupation: | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar |
| Years Active: | 1996 - present |
Jeremiah Jermaine Paul (born July 26, 1979) is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is best known for his backing vocals on Alicia Keys' singles "Diary", "Unbreakable", and her cover of Marvin Gaye's "If This World Were Mine". The former of which received a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. Paul was initially a member of the short-lived R&B group 1 Accord, who signed with Shaquille O'Neal's T.W.Is.M. Records in 1994.[1]
In 2012, Paul won season 2 of American reality competition series The Voice. That same year, his cover of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" peaked at number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]
Jeremiah Jermaine Paul was born on July 26, 1979, in Harriman, New York, and was raised in Spring Valley, New York, the fifth of 10 children.[3] His father encouraged his involvement in music by "turning their living room into a musical performance area". "It was loaded with instruments—piano, drums and guitars—and some of the kids, including Jermaine, formed a group to perform gospel songs in local churches."[3] By the time he was 12 years old, he began to acquire a reputation for singing at local churches and talent shows with his family. Jermaine joined numerous adult choirs.[4]
At the age of two, Jermaine and his brother moved to Alabama with their grandfather. There, he was introduced to the guitar. He played his step-grandmother's old Gibson guitar at the local church. With some knowledge of the guitar, and the yearning to go back to New York, he wrote his first song.
At the age of 14, he moved back to his birthplace in up-state New York to Harriman (Hudson Valley). There he attended Monroe-Woodbury High School and was introduced to rock and jazz. While taking guitar lessons he was selected to join the all-state, all-county chorus, and the classically trained high school voice ensemble.
At 15, Paul joined a quartet group named 1 Accord and signed to basketball star Shaquille O'Neal's label, T.W.Is.M Records. He began writing and producing songs of his own. Paul auditioned for the first season of American Idol but did not receive any callbacks from the producers. He began recording backing vocals for artists such as Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Joss Stone, Blackstreet and Jaguar Wright. He had a Grammy nomination at the 48th Grammy Awards in the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals category ("If This World Were Mine")[5] by Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul. The track was from the J Records album .[6]
In 2012, he auditioned for the 2nd season of The Voice singing "Complicated" from Avril Lavigne. Two of the four coaches turned their chairs (Blake Shelton and CeeLo Green), with Paul opting to be on Team Blake. He was the eventual winner of the second season.
| Performances on The Voice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Show | Song | Original Artist | Order | Result |
| Blind Audition | "Complicated" | Avril Lavigne | 2.14 | CeeLo Green and Blake Shelton turned Paul joined Blake Shelton's Team |
| Battles (Top 48) | "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" (vs. ALyX) | Billy Ocean | 8.4 | Saved by Blake Shelton |
| Live Show | "Livin' on a Prayer" | Bon Jovi | 10.1 | Saved (Public Vote) |
| Quarter-Finals (First Week) | "Against All Odds" | Phil Collins | 12.7 | |
| Semi-Finals | "Open Arms" | Journey | 18.5 | Safe (123 Points) |
| Live Finale (Final 4) | "I Believe I Can Fly" | R. Kelly | 20.1 | Winner |
| "God Gave Me You" | Dave Barnes | 20.8 | ||
| "Soul Man" (w/ Blake Shelton) | Sam and Dave | 20.10 | ||
His winning song, a cover of "I Believe I Can Fly" made it up to #83 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up, "Soul Man", with his coach Blake Shelton did not break the Hot 100, reaching just #108.
His single "I Believe in This Life" reportedly taken from his forthcoming album premiered on The Voice on November 8, 2012.[7]
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | |||
| 2012 | "Complicated" | — | Highlights from Season 2 The Voice |
| "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" | — | ||
| "Livin' on a Prayer" | — | ||
| "Against All Odds" | — | ||
| "Open Arms" | — | ||
| "I Believe I Can Fly" | 83 | ||
| "Soul Man"A (with coach, Blake Shelton) | 108 | ||
| "I Believe in This Life" | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||
| Year | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Don't Wanna Be Alone" (Shaquille O'Neal featuring 1Accord) | You Can't Stop The Reign |
| 1997 | "Don't Stop, Don't Quit" (1Accord) | Booty Call Soundtrack |
| 1998 | "Rivers" (Shaquille O'Neal featuring 1Accord) | Respect |
| 2003 | "Diary" (Alicia Keys featuring Tony! Toni! Toné! and Jermaine Paul) | The Diary of Alicia Keys |
| 2005 | "Unbreakable" (Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul) | Unplugged |
| 2005 | "Gold Digger" (Remix) (Kanye West featuring Focus) | Late Registration |
| 2005 | "If This World Were Mine" (Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul) | |
| 2008 | "The Preamble" | The Preamble |
| 2009 | "Airplane" | |