Howard Hewett

An American singer of noted emotional depth, Howard Hewett is best known as the lead singer, front man and dancer with successful soul/R&B band Shalamar through the 1970s and early'80s. Yet the formulaic style did scant justice to Hewett's great talents, which were more fully realised as he embarked on his solo career in the mid-'80s, even if it never matched the commercial appeal of the group.

Born in Akron, Ohio, Hewett's life changed when he moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and got involved in the music scene there, winning a place as a dancer on the show 'Soul Train', resulting in the show's producer Don Cornelius putting him together with Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel in Shalamar. They went on to have a string of major hits on both sides of the Atlantic before Hewett launched his solo career, cracking the charts with his second solo single 'I'm for Real' from the powerful R&B album 'I Commit to Love'. Other hits followed including 'Stay', 'I Commit to Love' and 'Strange Relationship'.

He also sang with a number of greats from different musical fields, including Dionne Warwick, Anita Baker, George Duke, Stacy Lattisaw, Donna Summer and Stanley Clarke, and turned his hand to production with Latoya Jackson. He diverted into jazz and, after an extended break, he returned in 2001 with gospel album 'The Journey' and was back in the public eye again in 2008 with a successful soul take on Christmas songs, which also found him working with Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire. The following year he duetted with Teena Marie on 'Lover's Lane'.