Marc Nelson

Marc K. Nelson (born January 23, 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American singer-songrwriter, pianist, and musician. His mother was the late R&B/Dance singer Phyllis Nelson, known for the songs "I Like You" and "Move Closer". He was an original member of Boyz II Men while still attending Philadelphia's High School of Performing Arts. However, Nelson left the group to pursue a solo career before they released their first album. Marc also played the leading role of Joaquin in In-Laws From Hell, written, directed, and produced by Andrionna L. Williams.

Boyz II Men

Nelson attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, in Pennsylvania. There, he and his friend Nathan Morris, joined later by Wanya Morris, Shawn Stockman, and Michael McCary, formed the singing group Unique Attraction. After hearing New Edition's song "Boys to Men" on the radio one evening, the group changed their name to Boyz II Men. In 1989, the group met Michael Bivins and began making arrangements to sign the group to a major label and begin recording. In the interim, the group encountered delays in recording their album. Nelson grew impatient and left the group and began recording his debut solo project.

Solo career and writing

After signing a solo deal with Capitol Records, Nelson scored a hit with a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You", which hit #26 on the R&B charts. His follow-up, "Count On Me", reached #48 on the R&B charts. Nelson released his solo album, I Want You, in 1991.

Following the release of his solo album, Nelson began concentrating his talents as a songwriter. Drawing the attention of Babyface, Nelson wrote for artists like Toni Braxton, Brandy, Tamia, Tyrese, and Jon B. Through Babyface, Nelson met the four members of the group Az Yet and was added to the line-up as second lead vocalist; the group was signed to LaFace Records.

Az Yet

As a member of Az Yet, Nelson found success. The group's self-titled debut album, released in 1996, went platinum. A single on the album, "Last Night", went gold and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Their second single, "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" did even better, going platinum and reaching #8 on the Hot 100.

Chocolate Mood

Nelson left Az Yet and began writing intensely. Subsequently, he released his second solo second album, Chocolate Mood, in 1999. The album featured Nelson's biggest solo hit, "15 Minutes", which reached #4 on the R&B charts and #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also featured on the duet "After All is Said and Done" with Beyoncé, on the soundtrack to the motion picture The Best Man (1999).

On January 9, 2007, SESAC honored Nelson at their third Jazz Awards Luncheon, for his authorship on "It's On Tonight" by Brian Culbertson. The event honored jazz writers whose works achieved Top 5 status on the jazz charts from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2006.^[1]

Marc: My Words

Nelson released his first independent project, Marc: My Words (Lyric Masters 911) on July 24, 2007. Nelson wrote or co-wrote the lyrics on all 15 tracks of the album. He also produced or co-produced all of the tracks on the album. Nelson extracted the material for the release from his existing catalog of songs written between 2001 and 2007, and began recording the material in 2006. The album features the original version of "I Don't Wanna Be In Love" (co-written by jazz artist Brian Culbertson) which also appears on the 2007 release Crystal City by Andre Ward.

Blayse

Nelson was also a founding member of the R&B super-group Blayse, with fellow R&B veterans Tony Grant of Az Yet, Gary "Lil G" Jenkins of Silk, and Terrell Phillips of Blackstreet. Although the group managed to record several songs, the recordings were never publicly released, the album was never completed, and the group disbanded in December 2007. Lil G returned to Silk, Nelson returned to Az Yet, and Tony Grant toured in the Tyler Perry stage production The Marriage Counselor, from January 2008 through May 2008.

Discography

• 1991: I Want You
• 1999: Chocolate Mood
• 2007: Marc My Words

Stage play appearances

• Love Ain't Supposed to Hurt - Part II: The Wedding
• Tell Hell I Ain't Coming
• King Solomon Lives
• Men Cry in the Dark
• In-Laws From Hell

See also

• Babyface
• Boyz II Men
• Az Yet

References

External links/Sources

• Marc Nelson French Interview