Maxwell

At 51 years old, Maxwell physical status not available right now. We will update Maxwell's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Gerald Maxwell Rivera (born May 23, 1973), known mononymously as Maxwell, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist.

Along with fellow musicians D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, Maxwell has been credited with helping to shape what has been termed the "neo soul" movement that rose to prominence during the late 1990s.

Early life

Maxwell was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a Haitian mother and a Puerto Rican father. His mother grew up in a devout Baptist household in Haiti. Maxwell's father died in a plane crash when Maxwell was three years old. Maxwell grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York.

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Career

After receiving a low-cost Casio keyboard from a friend, the Brooklyn, New York native started playing music at age 17. I'm now a fan of "jheri curl soul," a characteristic of early 1980s R&B acts such as Patrice Rushen, S.O.S., but he's also a fan of "jheri curl soul." Maxwell, the band and Rose Royce, began to teach himself how to play a variety of instruments. According to him, the R&B of the early 1980s featured "the ideal combination of computerized instrumentation and a live feel," and that the style's life was lost due to hip hop's presence on R&B. Despite being mocked and uncomfortable, he continued to develop his musical skills, growing long sideburns, and even braiding his hair in long thin braids.

Maxwell began to perform in early-1980s urban R&B, and by 1991, he was on the New York City club scene. Maxwell was able to afford a 24-track recording studio and began to record songs for a demo tape, which he posted among his friends. The demo piqued curiosity, as well as his official debut concert appearance at Nell's. Maxwell wrote and recorded over three hundred songs over the next two years and appeared frequently at small venues around New York City. Maxwell's appearances continued to attract attention and boost buzz about him, and a writer from Vibe magazine who attended one of his shows called him "the next prince." Maxwell signed a recording deal with Columbia Records in 1994 after gaining acclaim, and he spent a long time with the band. Out of concern for his family's anonymity, he adopted his middle name as a moniker.

Maxwell began working with songwriter Leon Ware and Wah Wah Watson to record his debut Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite in the mid 1990s. Chung King Studios, RPM Studios, Sorcerer Studios, and Chung King Studios in New York City, as well as CRC recording studios in Chicago, Illinois, hosted recording sessions for the album in 1994 and 1995. The finished product was showcased to Columbia Records in Spring of the same year, after its production was started in 1995. However, the album was shelved for nearly a year due to difficulties with Columbia's leadership, the company's extensive reorganization, and record executives' concerns about the album's commercial potential.

Initially, the album was sluggish to gain commercial curiosity. The album made its chart debut on April 20, 1996, landing at number 38 on the Top R&B/Hip Albums chart. Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite saw chart growth on both the Top R&B/Hip Albums and Billboard 200, peaking at number eight on the former and number 36 on the latter. On the Billboard 200 chart, it took seventy-eight weeks to make it. In the United Kingdom, it became a Top 30 hit. Time, Rolling Stone, and USA Today ranked the album as one of the year's top ten best albums. At the 39th Grammy Awards, she was also nominated for Best R&B Album, but The Tony Rich Project's Words was not named.

Four singles were released from the album. "...Til the Cops Come Knockin'" was the first single to be released on the Hot R&B/Hip Singles & Tracks in May 1996. The single stood at number 79, compared to the previous 12 weeks. "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)", the second single from the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks in August 1996, he ranked number 11, eventually reaching eighth position. It soared to number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, peaking at number 36 on September 28, 1996. On the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart, the third single, "Sumthin' Sumthin," debuted at number 22. "Suitelady (The Proposal Jam) the album's fourth single, and it appeared on the Hot R&B/Hip Airplay chart in May 1997, peaking at number 64. (Maxwell contributed the song "Segurança (Security)" to the Red Hot + Rio, an AIDS-benefit compilation created by the Red Hot Organization.)

"Til the Cops Come Knockin'," "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)," "Because Wherever Whether" and "Sumthin' Sumthin'" are among Maxwell's compilations. In 2019, these EPs were re-released. "Sumthin' Sumthin": Mellosmoothe" appeared on Loves Jones' soundtrack in March 1997.

Despite Maxwell's only one album out, MTV discovered his burgeoning success and asked him to film an episode of MTV Unplugged in New York City. On June 15, 1997, the show was taped live on June 15, 1997, and he appeared on his own songs as well as excerpts from Kate Bush ("This Woman's Work") and Nine Inch Nails ("Closer"). Maxwell was in conflict with his record over the unveiling of a full album of his session, resulting in the introduction of only an extended play (or EP) instead, which contains seven songs.) "...Til the Cops Come Knockin" on MTV Unplugged was included as a bonus track on the international release. On July 22, 1997, the episode of MTV Unplugged premiered on the network for the first time.

Contemporary music critics had panned Maxwell's second studio album, Embrya, on June 30, 1998, and on its release it was panned. The album received mixed feedback for its more "indulgent sound." Maxwell's album was a departure for the singer, who did not regret sacrificing his image among urban listeners for a more challenging one due to its internal focus and esoteric grooves. The album underwent a critical reaction reminiscent of other artists' work that broke their previous releases' lucrative formulas in favour of more compelling projects, which is now being referred to as "neo-soul." It was nominated for the Best Male Soul/R&B Album in 1999 by Soul Train Music Awards. Maxwell "overstuffs his songs with theories that lead nowhere," Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in a retrospective review for Allmusic. "Embrya "a bit of a sophomore flop, but with hopeful moments." Arion Berger, a writer for The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), found the songs "unfocused and pretentious... with a lot of overwrought, underwritten songs with obscure, fancy names revolving around a kind of sexual gnosticism." Critics have since lauded Embrya as a pioneer for later trends in Alternative R&B, and Columbia Records reissued the album on its 20th anniversary in 2018.

Despite the negative press, the album sold more than one million copies and sold Maxwell a new alternative fanbase, but it confused the traditional urban customers. The album was officially certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on May 26, 1999 (RIAA). Emerya was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, losing to fellow neo-soul artist Erykah Badu's Baduizm (1997). Later this year, he released "Fortunate," a single written by R. Kelly and featured on the 1999 film Life soundtrack. On Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles and Tracks chart, the single reached number one. Maxwell's most commercial single to date, and it was Billboard's top-one R&B single of 1999.

Now, Maxwell's third album, Columbia Records in the United States, was released on August 14, 2001. Maxwell has stated that he felt more at ease with his artistic direction in the creation of his latest album, which does not reflect his previous work's experimental style. According to SoundScan, the album raked out more than 296,000 units in the United States in the first week, earning him his first-ever number one album. The album was later classified platinum by the Royal Institute of British Architects. "Lifetime" was the album's second single. It was a top-five hit on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop charts, and it peaked at No. 1. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart, 22nd on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "This Woman's Work," Maxwell's live staple, charted at number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 16 on the Hot R&B/Hip Songs chart, ranking it third on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 16 on the Hot R&B/Hip Songs chart, charted at number 58 on the Billboard Hot R&R&P Songs chart, ranked at number 58. "Now is a disappointment in the aftermath of Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite and its 1998 sequel, Embrya," La Weekly wrote about him once more. Music critics are generally supportive, based on a total score of 78/100 from Metacritic. The album was Maxwell's last album before he took a long break from performing.

Chung King Studios, Bowery Digital, and Platinum Sound Recording Studio in New York City all performed recording sessions for a new album from 2007 to 2009. Maxwell and guitarist Hod David produced the album entirely. The album was supposed to be the first installment of his upcoming trilogy of albums.

During this period, and after seven years of not performing, he was a surprise musical guest on the 2008 BET Awards, where he performed the song "Simply Beautiful" in honor of soul singer Al Green, shocked fans and the audience alike, but with his fresh look, his iconic afro and pork-chop sideburns were shed, as well as a more polished and subdued appearance.

The album BLACKsummers' night was released on July 7, 2009, and music critics applauded it. The album was a huge success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart in July 2009, with first-week sales of 316,000 copies serving as Maxwell's highest first-week units.

The album featured four singles. The lead single, "Pretty Wings," debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Songs chart, eventually spending 47 weeks on the chart. It spent 18 weeks and peaked at number 33 on the Hot 100 and at number 12 on the Radio Songs component chart, and it's currently at number 33. "Bad Habits," the second single on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, debuted at number four, only after 46 weeks on the charts. It ranked at number 71 on the Hot 100, at number 38 on the Radio Songs chart, and at number 16 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. On the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the third single "Cold" spent one week at number 62. "Fistful of Tears" was the album's fourth single on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs for 24 weeks, peaking at number 11. It debuted at number 94 on the Hot 100 and at number 63 on the Radio Songs chart, and at number 63. Maxwell was nominated for six Grammy Awards in 2010, including "Best R&B Album" for BLACKsummers'night and "Best Male R&B Vocal Performance" for "Pretty Wings." "Pretty Wings" was nominated for the "Song of the Year," Maxwell's publication moniker Musze's "Pretty Wings" award.

Maxwell and his eleven-piece band will embark on a six-day tour in Los Angeles, California, including two nights in three cities (July 20 and July 21); and the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, August 3 and August 4). Maxwell's album would be performed in entirety. Maxwell's first day of the tour was to perform songs from his first album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite and his second album Embrya. Both tour Maxwell's second and fourth albums, Now and BLACKsummer'snight, respectively, were scheduled for performances on the second day of the tour. Maxwell'snight trilogy would be his first-performance songs from his BLACKsummer's Night trilogy. It was also announced that M2N tour merchandise will fund the 2012 "Obama-Biden 2012" re-election effort. However, the tour was postponed due to vocal hemorrhaging.

During an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in May 2014, he said he had been working on his fifth studio album for "the past three years" and has been recording in Miami, and not often performing or planning. Maxwell revealed on Twitter on December 18, 2014, that the second installment of his trilogy blackSUMMERS'night would be published in winter 2015.

Maxwell's first solo single in six years, "Lake by the Ocean," was also announced on April 7, 2016 and his long-awaited fifth album blackSUMMERS'night. On May 5, 2016, Stephen Colbert appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. It was his first television appearance in seven years.

The full-length album was released on July 1, 2016 and ranked at number three on the Billboard 200, despite widespread criticism.

Maxwell performed "Shame" in October 2018, which he said was a preview of his forthcoming album Night, his final installment of his album trilogy. Maxwell said in April 2019 that he was re-issuing his older EPs in digital form. In September 2019, Maxwell performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which was accompanied by the National Symphony Orchestra.

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