Jeffrey Osborne

Jeffrey Osborne (born March 9, 1948 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American funk and R&B musician, and former lead singer of the band L.T.D. Osborne is the youngest of 12 children and is part of a musical family. He has five brothers and six sisters, some of whom went on to have music careers (his brother Billy was an L.T.D. bandmate). Osborne's father, Clarence "Legs" Osborne, was a popular trumpeter who played with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. Osborne started his music career in 1969 with a band called Love Men Ltd., who would later become known as L.T.D. The band recorded memorable hits such as "Everytime I Turn Around (Back In Love Again)", "Love Ballad" and "(Holdin' On) When Love Is Gone". At first, Osborne was a drummer, but then became the lead vocalist. He left L.T.D. in 1981 to start a solo career. His solo success includes five gold and platinum albums.

Career

In 1982, Osborne released his self-titled debut album, which featured two hit singles, "On The Wings Of Love" & "I Really Don't Need No Light", peaking at #29 & #39 on the pop chart respectively. This was followed up the next year by Stay With Me Tonight, his first gold album (later reaching platinum album status), which spawned two more hits, "Don't You Get So Mad" (#25) and the title track (#30). Osborne's "On The Wings Of Love" was also sung by American Idol, Clay Aiken. In 1985, he wrote the lyrics to the Whitney Houston hit "All at Once" (music by Michael Masser). He appeared on USA for Africa's fundraising single, We Are the World in 1985. He would later appear on Celebrity Duets in 2006, performing "On The Wings Of Love" with Alfonso Ribeiro. Osborne lent his vocals to the theme song of the soap opera Loving from 1992 to 1995.

Osborne had two more gold albums, Don't Stop & Emotional, the latter of which had his highest charting solo pop hit, "You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song)", which peaked at #13 in 1986. The following year, Osborne had the highest-charting hit of his career duetting with Dionne Warwick on "Love Power", which reached #12 on the Hot 100 and also topped the Adult Contemporary singles chart. Unfortunately, this was a turning point in his pop success, as his albums & singles began charting lower & lower on the pop charts. Osborne's 1988 single "She's on the Left" would be his final Hot 100 entry, as well as his only #1 R&B hit.

After scoring 2 more substantial R&B hits in the early 1990s, "Only Human" and "If My Brother's in Trouble", Osborne would be absent from the charts for the remainder of the decade. In the new millennium, he returned with a series of albums that, while far from the success he enjoyed in the 1980s, returned him to Adult R&B radio, scoring modest chart singles such as "Rest of Our Lives" (#75, 2003) and his cover of Barbara Mason's classic "Yes, I'm Ready" (#64, 2005).

Discography

L.T.D.

Before Jeffrey Osborne emerged as a solo artist, he had already released many albums and singles as part of the R&B/funk band L.T.D.

Solo Albums

1982: Jeffrey Osborne (A&M) - US #49, R&B #3
1983: Stay With Me Tonight (A&M) - US #25, R&B #3
1984: Don't Stop (A&M) - US #39, R&B #7
1986: Emotional (A&M) - US #27, R&B #5
1988: One Love: One Dream (A&M) - US #86, R&B #12
1991: Only Human (Arista) - US #95, R&B #9
1997: Something Warm for Christmas (A&M) - R&B #86
1999: Ultimate Collection (Hip-O)
2000: That's for Sure (Private Music) - US #191, R&B #50
2003: Music Is Life (Koch) - R&B #50
2005: From the Soul (Koch) - R&B #72

Singles

1982: "I Really Don't Need A Light" - US #39, R&B #3
1982: "On The Wings Of Love" - US #29, R&B #13
1983: "Don't You Get So Mad" - US #25, R&B #3
1983: "Eenie Meenie" - US #76
1983: "Stay With Me Tonight" - US #30, R&B #4
1984: "The Borderlines" - US #38, R&B #7
1984: "Don't Stop" - US #44, R&B #6
1984: "Plane Love"- R&B #10
1984: "The Last Time I Made Love" (with Joyce Kennedy) - US #40, R&B #2
1984: "We're Going All The Way" - US #48, R&B #16
1985: "Let Me Know" - R&B #44
1986: "In Your Eyes" - R&B #82
1986: "Room With a View" - R&B #29
1986: "Soweto" - R&B #18
1986: "You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song)" - US #13, R&B #2
1987: "Love Power" (with Dionne Warwick) - US #12, R&B #5
1988: "Can't Go Back on a Promise" - R&B #28
1988: "She's On The Left" - US #48, R&B #1
1989: "All Because Of You" - R&B #48
1990: "Only Human" - R&B #3
1991: "If My Brother's in Trouble" - R&B #11
1991: "The Morning After I Made Love to You" - R&B #24
2003: "Rest of Our Lives" - R&B #75
2005: "Yes I'm Ready" - R&B #64

Filmography

The Young Messiah - Messiah XXI (2006) (DVD)

Single, # 12 on Billboard Hot 100 1987 Love Power, Duet with Dionne Warwick

Occurrences of songs in the media

Stay With Me Tonight

Played in the 1984 movie Splash.
Played in the television shows Sisters and Knight Rider
Performed by J.O. on the Robert Townsend sitcom The Parenthood
Played in the 1988 TV movie "Ladykillers" and was the showpiece song

Sources

External links