Jeremiah Jermaine Paul (born July 26, 1979) is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is best known for his

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

' singles "

Diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

", "

Unbreakable Unbreakable may refer to: Books * ''Unbreakable'' (book), the 2017 autobiography of Australian tennis player Jelena Dokic * '' Unbreakable: My Story, My Way'', the 2013 autobiography of singer Jenni Rivera Film and television * ''Unbreakable' ...

", and her 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 "

If This World Were Mine "If This World Were Mine" is a 1967 song by soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell from their album '' United''. Written solely by Gaye, it was one of the few songs they recorded without Ashford & Simpson writing or producing. When it was rele ...

". The former of which received a nomination for

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

at the

47th Annual Grammy Awards The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Lat ...

. Paul was initially a member of the short-lived R&B group 1 Accord, who signed with

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

's T.W.Is.M. Records in 1994. In 2012, Paul won season 2 of American reality competition series '' The Voice''. That same year, his cover of R. Kelly's "

I Believe I Can Fly "I Believe I Can Fly" is a song written, produced, and performed by American singer R. Kelly from the soundtrack to the 1996 film '' Space Jam''. It was originally released on November 26, 1996, and was later included on Kelly's 1998 album '' R ...

" peaked at number 83 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Since 2012, Paul has been an ordained minister in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

. As of 2025, he is the pastor at Golden Hill United Methodist Church in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

Early life

Jeremiah Jermaine Paul was born on July 26, 1979, in

Harriman, New York Harriman is a Village (New York), village in Orange County, New York, Orange County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is in the southeastern section of the town of Monroe (town), New York, Monroe, with a small portion in the town of ...

, and was raised in

Spring Valley, New York Spring Valley is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the town of Ramapo, New York, Ramapo and Clarkstown, New York, Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, Rockland County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is ...

, the fifth of 10 children. His father encouraged his involvement in music by "turning their living room into a musical performance area". "It was loaded with instruments—piano, drums and guitars—and some of the kids, including Jermaine, formed a group to perform gospel songs in local churches." By the time he was 12 years old, he began to acquire a reputation for singing at local churches and talent shows with his family. Jermaine joined numerous adult choirs. At the age of two, Jermaine and his brother moved to

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

with their grandfather. There, he was introduced to the guitar. He played his step-grandmother's old Gibson guitar at the local church. With some knowledge of the guitar, and the yearning to go back to New York, he wrote his first song. At the age of 14, he moved back to his birthplace in up-state New York to Harriman (Hudson Valley). There he attended Monroe-Woodbury High School and was introduced to

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. While taking guitar lessons he was selected to join the all-state, all-county chorus, and the classically trained high school voice ensemble.

Music career

At 15, Paul joined a

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

group named 1 Accord and signed to

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

star

's label, T.W.Is.M Records. He began writing and producing songs of his own. Paul auditioned for the first season of ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' but did not receive any callbacks from the producers. He began recording backing vocals for artists such as

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

, Blackstreet and

Jaguar Wright Jacquelyn Suzette Wright is an American singer and songwriter. She has released five studio albums and is part of the Okayplayer collective. Wright has performed and collaborated alongside rap acts such as the Roots, Jay-Z, and Blackalicious ...

. He had a Grammy nomination at the

48th Grammy Awards The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning from October 1, 2004, through September 30, 2005. Irish rock band U2 ...

in the

Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

category ("

") by Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul. The track was from the J Records album '' So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross''.

The Voice (2012)

In 2012, he auditioned for the 2nd season of '' The Voice'' singing " Complicated" from

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

. Two of the four coaches turned their chairs (

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

and

CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway-Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green or simply Cee-Lo), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Green came to initial pr ...

), with Paul opting to be on Team Blake. He was the eventual winner of the second season.

After ''The Voice''

His winning song, a cover of "

" made it up to #83 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The follow-up, " Soul Man", with his coach

did not break the Hot 100, reaching just #108. His single "I Believe in This Life" reportedly taken from his forthcoming album premiered on ''The Voice'' on November 8, 2012.

Discography

Singles

*^ADid not enter the Hot 100 but charted on

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

Appearances

;Singles as back up vocals

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Jermaine 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American rhythm and blues singers Living people Singers from New York City The Voice (franchise) winners 1979 births People from Spring Valley, New York 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers