Marc Nelson (born January 23, 1971) is an American singer and songwriter. He was an original member of

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

while still attending the

Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, commonly known as CAPA, is a magnet school in South Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the edge of the Christian Street Historic District. It is a part of the School Distr ...

. However, a management agreement forced Nelson to leave the group to pursue a solo career before the group released their debut album,

Cooleyhighharmony ''Cooleyhighharmony'' is the debut studio album by American R&B group Boyz II Men, released by Motown Records on April 30, 1991. The album was written mainly by Boyz II Men members Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman, and produced b ...

Boyz II Men

After hearing

New Edition New Edition is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B/Pop music, pop group from the Roxbury, Boston, Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by singer/rapper Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a new edition of the Jackson ...

's song "Boys to Men" on the radio, the group changed their name to

. In 1989, the group met

Michael Bivins Michael Lamont Bivins (born August 10, 1968) is an American singer, rapper, manager, and producer, and a founding member of New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe. Biography Bivins was born and still lives in Boston. He and his wife, Teasha, have four ...

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. Prior to being discovered by Bivins, the members had all previously signed a management deal with a local company in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Marc Nelson, who was 18 years old at the time, faced difficulty breaking the contract with this company due to his age. The other members were all minors. Once everything was settled with Boyz II Men and

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, Nelson still couldn’t be released from his previous management, forcing him to make a choice to pursue a solo career instead of continuing with the group. His solo album, I Want You, was released only a few months after Cooleyhighharmony in September 1991.

Later career

''I Want You''

After signing a solo deal with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, Nelson scored a hit with a cover of

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's " I Want You", which hit No. 26 on the R&B charts. His follow-up, "Count On Me", reached No. 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 Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

, Nelson wrote for artists like

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven ...

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development deal with War ...

Tyrese Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American R&B singer and actor from Los Angeles, California. He signed with RCA Records in 1998, and released his debut single "Nobody Else" in August of that year. It peaked within the top ...

and

Jon B Jonathan David Buck (born November 11, 1974) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. His debut album ''Bonafide (Jon B. album), Bonafide'' (1995) spawned the hit singles "Pretty Girl (Jon B. song), Pretty G ...

. 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 LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achiev ...

Az Yet

As a member of Az Yet, Nelson found success. The group's self-titled debut album, released in 1996, went

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

. A single on the album, "Last Night", went

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and reached No. 9 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Their second single, "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" did even better, going platinum and reaching No. 8 on the Hot 100.

''Chocolate Mood''

Nelson left Az Yet and began writing intensely. Subsequently, he released his second solo album, '' Chocolate Mood'', in 1999. The album featured Nelson's biggest solo hit, "15 Minutes", which reached No. 4 on the R&B charts and No. 27 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

. He also featured on the duet "After All is Said and Done" with

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

, on the soundtrack to the motion picture '' The Best Man'' (1999). On January 9, 2007,

SESAC SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States.

honored Nelson at their third Jazz Awards Luncheon, for his authorship on "It's On Tonight" by

Brian Culbertson Brian Culbertson (born January 12, 1973) is an American smooth jazz/ R&B/funk musician and producer. His instruments include the synthesizer, piano and trombone. Early life and career Culbertson was born in Decatur, Illinois. As a child, he wa ...

. The event honored jazz writers whose works achieved Top 5 status on the jazz charts from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2006.

''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

) 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 (group) Silk is an American R&B group, formed in 1989 in Atlanta, Georgia. They are best known for their 1993 hit single, " Freak Me", which reached number-one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Career Silk was discovered by the musician Keith Sweat. ...

, 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 Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...

stage production ''

The Marriage Counselor ''The Marriage Counselor'' is a 2008 American stage play (theatre), play created, written, directed and produced by Tyler Perry. It is his tenth play. The show toured from January 2008 to June 2009. It stars Tamar davis, Tamar Davis as Dr. Judi ...

'' (from January 2008 through May 2008).

Additional projects

Nelson released the R&B/Soul single "Wishing You The Worst" on July 24, 2017. The song was released independently via his production company ''Focused Artist Entertainment''. Nelson was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, for penning the theme song to the 2016 animated Christmas television film ''Snowy Day''. The title song was performed by

Discography

Studio albums

Contributions

Singles

* "I Want You" (1991) * "Count on Me" (1992) * "Last Night" with Az Yet (1996) * "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" with Az Yet & featuring

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera Jr. ( ; born September 13, 1944) is a retired American musician best known for being a frontman, vocalist, and bassist for the American rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985. His career as a recording artist ...

(1996) * "That's All I Want" with Az Yet (1997) * "15 Minutes" (1999) * "Too Friendly" (2000) * "Love's Not Love" (2000) * "Wishing You The Worst" (2017)

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''

References

External links

Marc Nelson's Official website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLu7WTY1p_Q {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Marc 1971 births Living people 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers African-American male singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters American contemporary R&B singers American soul musicians Singers from Philadelphia Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Boyz II Men members Az Yet members Blayse members Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts alumni 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers