Representative Albums: "T.E.V.I.N.," "I'm Ready," "Back to the World"
Representative Songs: "Can We Talk?," "I'm Ready," "Tell Me What You Want Me to D"
Biography
There's some dispute over who actually discovered Texas child sensation Tevin Campbell. Some accounts credit flutist Bobbi Humphrey, while much of the publicity material credits Quincy Jones. It's assured that Campbell first came to the notice of music fans just after his 11th birthday in late 1989 when he appeared on Jones' LP Back on the Block and was featured on "Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)," which hit number one on the R&B charts in June 1990. With his high, flexible tenor, Campbell recalled an earlier Jones protégé, Michael Jackson. Later that year, he appeared in Prince's Graffiti Bridge film singing "Round and Round," which Prince wrote for him and which became a gold single. Next, in the summer of 1991, he appeared on the soundtrack to Boyz in the Hood singing "Just Ask Me To," a Top Ten R&B hit. All of this set the stage for his debut album, 1991's T.E.V.I.N., which went platinum and spawned two R&B chart-toppers, "Tell Me What You Want Me to Do" and "Alone with You," as well as the R&B Top Five hit "Goodbye." I'm Ready, released two years later, did even better, going double platinum and featuring three R&B chart hits -- the number one "Can We Talk," "I'm Ready," which went Top Five, and "Always in My Heart," which reached the Top Ten. But 1996's Back to the World was a sales disappointment, and 1999's Tevin Campbell did even worse. A compilation package was issued in early 2001. ~ Ron Wynn & William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Campbell's first solo hit was "Round and Round", which charted at #3 on R&B charts in November 1991[5] and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1991 was produced by Prince and was featured in Prince's film Graffiti Bridge.[6] Campbell followed the success of his first two singles by releasing his debut album, T.E.V.I.N., in November 1991 which featured the R&B hit singles and Campbell's only #1 Adult Contemporary hit: "Tell Me What You Want Me To Do" followed by:, "Alone With You", and "Goodbye". His second album, I'm Ready released October 1993, yielded the #1 R&B hit and #9 pop single "Can We Talk" in December 1993, "I'm Ready"[7], "Always in My Heart" which charted at #3 on the R&B chart.[8] He also scored a Top 30 hit with "Don't Say Goodbye Girl" on the R&B charts.[7] In September 1994, Campbell also scored an R&B hit with the single "U Will Know" as part of the R&B supergroup Black Men United, a group that also included singer Usher.[9]
In 1995 Tevin's career peaked with his performance as the pop star Powerline in Disney's feature animated film A Goofy Movie. His songs "I 2 I" and "Stand Out" were both released as singles that year, comprising two-thirds of his output for the year. Powerline is similar to other R&B stars like Prince, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Tevin was quoted as saying, "What else is there to do now? Think of what I've done - I've sang songs in a Disney film. I've released an album that is called T.E.V.I.N. My name is Tevin. Isn't that awesome?! As far as I'm concerned, my life has been lived."
The year 1996 saw the release of his third album, Back to the World (#11 R&B). The title track was a success (hitting the R&B Top 20), but additional singles failed to make an impact on the chart. His early 1999 self-titled album was found Campbell venturing into the neo-soul venue. The project was rushed, and as a result charted below the R&B Top 30, with only one single charting, a Top 30 song called "Another Way".[7]
In May 2008, Rambo House Media released a bootleg internet mixtape of various unreleased Tevin Campbell material, titled 2008, Never Before Heard through iTunes and Amazon. After six months of availability, Campbell decided to no longer allow the unpublished material to be downloaded online[citation needed], and the music can no longer be heard or purchased on these sites. He made an appearance at the 2009 BET Awards as his pays a tribute to The O'Jays with Trey Songz, Tyrese, and Johnny Gill.
Acting career
After his appearance in the 1990 film Graffiti Bridge, Campbell made a guest appearance the following year on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, playing fictional teen idol, "Little T", a celebrity crush and date of Ashley's first season in the episode "Just Infatuation". In a later series, he was referenced when Will threatened to destroy Ashley's Tevin Campbell posters after she plays with Will's signature baseball. In 1995, Campbell voiced the character Powerline in Disney's A Goofy Movie, singing the songs "Stand Out" and "Eye To Eye".
In 1999, Campbell made another guest appearance on the hit show Moesha alongside Brandy Norwood. In the episode, "Rite Stuff."
Campbell played the role of Seaweed J. Stubbs in the Broadway musical Hairspray. He joined the cast in December 2005.[10]
