Sterling Lauren Simms (born July 7, 1982), is an American R&B singer-songwriter. His debut album, '' Yours, Mine & The Truth'' was released on December 23, 2008, by

Def Jam Records Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

Biography and career

Sterling recorded his first song with his grandfather at the age of 6. His grandfather, a musician himself, introduced him to the sounds of Sam Cooke. When he was 15, his mother moved the family of four children to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. There Sterling began to make the rounds with

Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfirmed events in ...

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

and other music makers in the city. After a period struggling, Sterling began to focus on writing, putting his artist ambitions aside. Returning to Philadelphia, Sterling reconnected with

Kenny Gamble Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

. Back in Atlanta, Sterling met up with producer Teddy Bishop, who liked the songs Sterling was working on. Bishop asked, "Who was the voice behind the songs?" At Teddy's prompting Sterling decided to pursue becoming a performer again. He sang for

Lyor Cohen Lyor Cohen born October 3, 1959) is an American record executive and entrepreneur. Cohen has been actively involved in hip hop at various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then led Def Ja ...

Kevin Liles Kevin Liles (born February 27, 1968) is an American record executive and co-founder and CEO of 300 Entertainment. In 2020, Kevin was recognized by Billboard Magazine as R&B/Hip-Hop Executive of the Year for both his efforts in activism and the c ...

and a group of other influential music executives, giving them Sam Cooke's "A Long Time Coming." They were impressed with Sterling and by this time Warner Bros and Atlantic were very interested in signing him. While waiting for an offer, Sterling traveled to Miami with Bishop to the VMAs. Bishop played Sterling's music for industry veteran George Robinson. Robinson recognized his talent at once and convinced the partners of One Recordings to make Sterling their first release. Sterling signed with One Recordings and began finishing his album and eventually a meeting was set up with

L.A. Reid Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer. He is the founder and served as co-chairman of Hitco Entertainment. He also previously served as the chairman and CEO of Ep ...

Island/Def Jam The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit, formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by the Universal Music Group. It consists of labels devised and consisted under the basic operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordi ...

. Two months later One Recordings signed a deal with Island/Def Jam to jointly release Sterling Simms. Sterling's musical influences include Boyz II Men, Aaliyah,

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

New Edition New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 19 ...

, Usher and Latin music generally. In 2009, Sterling co-wrote "Robot Love," a song on

Allison Iraheta Allison Iraheta (; born April 27, 1992) is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', Iraheta won the Telemundo competition ''Quinceañera: Mam� ...

's debut album " Just Like You," which will be released on December 1, 2009. In early 2011, Sterling signed a recording deal with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

and is currently working on his second effort.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Yours, Mine & The Truth'' (2008) * ''July's Finest'' (2011)

Mixtapes

* ''July's Finest'' (2011) * ''Mary & Molly'' (2012)

Guest appearances

*03. "Was It Worth It" (with

Kid Ink Brian Todd Collins (born April 1, 1986), known professionally as Kid Ink, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles. He released his debut independent album ''Up & Away (Kid Ink album), Up & Away'' in 2012, f ...

) on " Almost Home"

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simms, Sterling American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Living people 1982 births J Records artists RCA Records artists African-American male singers American soul singers 21st-century American singers Rappers from Philadelphia African-American songwriters 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania