Tony Rich

Tony Rich (born Antonio Jeffries, 19 November 1971, in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.) is a contemporary R&B singer-songwriter that has a diverse music style. Rich first attracted attention as a staff writer at LaFace Records, where he wrote songs for recording artists including Boyz II Men, Johnny Gill, TLC, and Toni Braxton. Later, Rich mixed elements of jazz, rock and soul music into his own tracks. The Tony Rich Project Cover of the 1996 album WordsIn late 1995 Rich released the hit single, "Nobody Knows" which made it to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Under the moniker "The Tony Rich Project", he released his debut album Words in early 1996. Both the album and single went platinum and in 1997, Rich won a Grammy Award for the Best R&B Album. The song was covered by country music artist Kevin Sharp in 1997, also as his debut single. The song "Like a Woman" was also nominated for a Grammy Award. The album was followed up in 1998 by Birdseye, which, while critically praised, failed to generate much commercial success. Rich seemingly disappeared from the music world for several years after this album's release. In 2003, Rich returned with the album The Resurrected. Carrying a very different style, the album featured Rich rocking out on the guitar, as well as singing smooth ballads. By 2006, Rich released a fourth album, Pictures. The album contains snapshots of a relationship, and is a return in style to his earlier works. In 2008, he released his fifth album, Exist. Originally it was set for release on September 16, however it was pushed back to September 23, 2008. The album features download-only single, "Part The Waves".