Johnny Gill was born in Washington, D.C., and began singing at a young age beside his brothers in the gospel group Wings of Faith. His professional music career began in 1983, when he signed to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a>-affiliated <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cotillion%22">Cotillion</a> label and scored a number 29 R&B hit with his first single, the <a href="spotify:artist:70Q1hGbTxHJYRqEvTYeoOw">Freddie Perren</a>-produced "Super Love," off his first self-titled album. Even then, Gill had a mature and muscular voice -- one that sounded more like that of a grown man than a high schooler. Alongside childhood friend and fellow <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cotillion%22">Cotillion</a> artist <a href="spotify:artist:0rKnxuiIepvjtMmrYYV2VA">Stacy Lattisaw</a>, he scored an R&B Top Ten hit with "Perfect Combination," the title track to the vocalists' 1984 album of duets. A second solo set for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Cotillion%22">Cotillion</a>, Chemistry, arrived the next year.

Gill's career was given new life in 1987, when he joined <a href="spotify:artist:1mFX1QlezK1lNPKQJkhwWb">New Edition</a> -- effectively replacing <a href="spotify:artist:62sPt3fswraiEPnKQpAbdE">Bobby Brown</a> -- for the recording of the <a href="spotify:artist:4ZaXj4ZrqscgpfqJolMfib">Jimmy Jam</a> and Terry Lewis-produced Heart Break. In 1989, the singer was featured on two additional charting singles outside his group: "Where Do We Go from Here," a number one R&B hit from <a href="spotify:artist:0rKnxuiIepvjtMmrYYV2VA">Lattisaw</a>'s What You Need, and "One Love," by saxophonist <a href="spotify:artist:0MDjU3FoGxwGH0rbkcwF2f">George Howard</a>. The <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Motown%22">Motown</a>-issued Johnny Gill followed the next year and went Top Ten pop and platinum on the strength of four major singles made with either <a href="spotify:artist:4ZaXj4ZrqscgpfqJolMfib">Jam</a> and Lewis or <a href="spotify:artist:3aVoqlJOYx31lH1gibGDt3">Babyface</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3qEzkkBwK5vKVggMiZYOWa">L.A. Reid</a>. "Rub You the Right Way," "My My My," and Wrap My Body Tight" all topped the R&B chart, and the fourth, "Fairweather Friend," made it to number two. While the album was undoubtedly Gill's solo peak -- it was also nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Vocal Performance -- the singer's second and third LPs for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Motown%22">Motown</a>, 1993's Provocative and 1996's Let's Get the Mood Right, became gold-level sellers.

Fifteen years passed between solo albums, but in the interim, Gill stayed with <a href="spotify:artist:1mFX1QlezK1lNPKQJkhwWb">New Edition</a> and teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:7BLOa6FxCbMnowidkQfLIA">Gerald Levert</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2r09Inibex3C4ZNTUVSG3m">Keith Sweat</a> to form <a href="spotify:artist:1l40tPBtp1bmS1krmINRSD">LSG</a>, a group behind Top Ten pop albums in 1997 and 2003 and the number one R&B single "My Body." Two more <a href="spotify:artist:1mFX1QlezK1lNPKQJkhwWb">New Edition</a> albums, Home Again and One Love, were issued respectively in 1996 and 2004. Solo Gill recordings resumed on a sporadic basis the next decade with Still Winning in 2011, Game Changer in 2014, and Game Changer II in 2019. The latter two, released through Gill's released <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22J+Skillz%22">J Skillz</a> label, mixed contemporary ballads with diversions into throwback Southern soul, reggae, and EDM. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi