You cannot listen to Peabo Bryson sing without being moved, his voice is an incredible instrument unto itself proven by decades of hit songs and industry respect that has made him R&B royalty. A first class artist, he sets the standard for showmanship, integrity, and perfection in a time where we don’t see that kind of all around excellence in an artist anymore.
As a singer and entertainer I greatly respect this man but personally I’m drawn to his humility and his conviction to faith which he seems to make very clear when speaking on the subjects. Proud that he is from South Carolina, the world could use a lot more Peabo Bryson and be the better for it!
From AllMusic biography by Andy Kellma and Peabo Bryson Wikipedia:
Born Robert Peapo Bryson in Greenville, South Carolina, he spent much of his childhood on his grandfather's farm in Mauldin, South Carolina. Bryson's love for music stemmed from his mother, who often took the family to concerts of well-known African-American artists at the time.
Bryson marked his professional debut at the age of 14, singing backup for Al Freeman and the Upsetters, a local Greenville group. It was Freeman's difficulty in pronouncing Bryson's French West-Indian name, Peapo, which led Bryson to perform as Peabo. Two years later, he left home to tour the Chitlin' Circuit with another local band, Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display. He made his recorded debut on Now!, a self-released album by Moses Dillard & the Tex-Town Display, featuring his powerful lead turns on "Cry Like a Baby" and "Bring Your Dreams to Me." During those recording sessions at Atlanta's Bang Records the young backup singer caught the ear of the label's general manager, Eddie Biscoe. Biscoe signed Bryson to a contract as a writer, producer, and arranger and encouraged Bryson to perform his own songs. For several years, Bryson worked with hometown bands and wrote and produced for Bang. In 1975, he debuted on Shout! as a solo artist with the up-tempo Buzz Cason composition "Disco Queen," and was featured on the Bang-issued Top 30 R&B single "Do It with Feeling," a comparatively funky number written by Paul Davis and Michael Zager for the latter's Moon Band. In 1976, he launched his own recording career with "Underground Music" on the Bang label and his first album, Peabo, the source of three A-sides that narrowly missed the Top 20 of the R&B chart.
Bryson left Bang for Capitol Records in 1977, where he flourished throughout a six-year period that entailed eight studio albums, most of which were Top Ten R&B hits. The first two LPs, Reaching for the Sky and Crosswinds, were released in 1978, promoted with several major R&B hits including the title tracks, "Feel the Fire," and "I'm So into You," and eventually went gold. Bryson worked so well in tandem that he recorded 1979's We're the Best of Friends with Natalie Cole, and with Roberta Flack made 1980's Live & More and 1983's Born to Love. The biggest single off the latter was "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love," the first of Bryson's four Top 20 pop hits. Bryson had gradually attained a broad audience by crossing over from Black radio quiet storm playlists to syndicated pop countdown programs. No momentum was lost in a switch from Capitol to Elektra, his home for the next few years. This phase was highlighted by the soaring ballad "If Ever You're in My Arms," a 1984 single that reached number ten on the pop chart, went number six R&B, and topped the adult contemporary chart. At the end of the decade, Bryson briefly returned to Capitol and topped the R&B chart with a cover of "Show & Tell," popularized by Al Wilson.
During the first few years of the '90s, the singer racked up one achievement after another. In 1991, after Bryson signed with Columbia Records, Can You Stop the Rain and its title track topped the R&B album and singles charts. "Can You Stop the Rain" itself became Bryson's first Grammy-nominated recording. For Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast, he and Celine Dion contributed the title song, a number nine pop hit. "A Whole New World," recorded with Regina Belle for Disney's 1992 Aladdin soundtrack, fared even better by topping the pop and adult contemporary charts. Kenny G had similar success on the jazz chart with Breathless, featuring Bryson on "By the Time This Night Is Over." The two latter releases, along with the Bryson-enhanced cast recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I, were all riding high when "Beauty and the Beast" won a Grammy award in the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. "A Whole New World" made Bryson a two-time Grammy winner the next year. Unconditional Love, released in 1999 on Private Music, contained duets with Roberta Flack and Debbie Gibson and was acknowledged with multiple Grammy nominations.
The singer continued to perform throughout the 2000s but recorded less frequently, though his approach remained consistent with a reliable emphasis on romantic ballads. Supported by a distribution deal with Concord, he released Missing You in 2007. He starred on stage in the lead role of “Raisin,” as The Wizard in “The Wiz” and was featured in the Michigan Opera’s 100th anniversary production of “Porgy & Bess.” Additionally, he released three Christmas CDs, lovingly filled with music he’s performed for several years running in the annual touring holiday music extravaganza, The Colors of Christmas. Eleven years later, he released Stand for Love, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and released on the duo's revitalized Perspective label. Bryson co-wrote most of the originals with Jam and Lewis.
