Manuel Lonnie Seal, Jr. (born September 26, 1960) is an American

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter,

vocal coach A vocal coach, also known as a voice coach (though this term often applies to those working with speech and communication rather than singing), is a music teacher, usually a piano accompanist, who helps singers prepare for a performance, often al ...

, and arranger. He has been credited, often in tandem with

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

, on releases by

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

, Usher,

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

, Xscape, Cherish, Tyrese,

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 ...

Gerald Levert Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an Americans, American singer-songwriter and Music Producer, producer. Levert performed with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon with the R&B vocal group, LeVert. Le ...

, Marc Dorsey and

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...

, among others. Seal has won a

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 the most prestigious ...

from 13 nominations.

Early life

He was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States, to parents Manuel and Betty Seal. Manuel also has two younger sisters. The family moved to Freeport, Illinois when Manuel was three. Both of his parents had musical backgrounds and they got him into piano lessons at the age of 5. His father was in a band, sang and played multiple instruments and his mother sang in the church choir. They lived in the projects and when Manuel was 10, his father left the family, moving back to Chicago. His mother was a school teacher and worked hard to get her and her children a home. By the time Manuel was in high school, his mother had purchased a home that he and his sisters still share today. Because his grade school did not offer guitar, Manuel started playing the flute at that time. He was already excelling at the piano and wanted to learn every instrument he could. By high school, he had formed a band and traveled to the few towns near him to perform. He was performing at bars (while being underage) and picked up a huge fan base throughout the Midwest. He traveled extensively, performing and perfecting his skills as a musician.

Career

Manuel Seal was found by a manager while working with Grammy Award-winning artist Ann Nesby. He and Ann had known each other for years, as they are from the same two small towns. His manager had gotten him meetings in LA and he stayed there for three months working at BMG. He then moved back to Freeport. Soon thereafter, his manager set up meetings for him in Atlanta, Georgia. At the hotel one night, he was found by

in the lobby while playing the piano and singing. He had attracted a huge crowd and Jermaine signed him instantly. He began work with

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and ...

. The first major success came with Xscape. Manuel wrote, produced and arranged their first album, ''

Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha ''Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha'' is the debut studio album by American R&B group Xscape. Released on October 12, 1993, by So So Def Recordings (as the label's inaugural release) and Columbia Records, the album produced the singles " Just Kickin' It" ...

'' (1993). He wrote two #1's and a top 10 on that album. The surprise hit on that album was "

Understanding Understanding is a cognitive process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to use concepts to model that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object of u ...

", which Manuel wrote in his hotel room one night between sessions. Da Brat's '' Funkdafied'' (1994) was the next huge success for him. He is the vocals on the lead single " Funkdafied", and composed all the music on the album. It was the first time a female rapper reached Platinum status. TLC's '' CrazySexyCool'' (1994) sold 23 million copies worldwide. Manuel wrote three songs on that album. Usher's ''

My Way "My Way" is Paul Anka's English-language lyrical adaptation of the French song " Comme d'habitude", released by Frank Sinatra in 1969. The original song was written by Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut, and Claude François, and was first recor ...

'' (1997) album went 7× Platinum and Manuel wrote seven of the ten songs on the album, including "

You Make Me Wanna "You Make Me Wanna..." is a song by American singer Usher. This track was released on August 5, 1997, by LaFace Records and Arista Records as the lead single from his second studio album, ''My Way'' (1997). He and Manuel Seal wrote the song w ...

", "

", and " Nice and Slow". Mariah Carey's ''

Daydream Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction. Various names of this phenomenon exist, including mind-wandering, fantasies, a ...

'' (1995) album sold 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Manuel wrote " Always Be My Baby", among others. He went on to write numerous hits for Jagged Edge, Aretha Franklin, Destiny's Child, Bebe Winans, LSG, Johnny Gill, George Benson, Tamia, Aaron Hall, Mary J. Blige, Monica, Lionel Richie, Ashanti and Gerald Levert. Major success came with " My Boo" from Usher's '' Confessions'' (2004, Special Edition), which went on to sell more than 10 million copies in America. Seal also won a Grammy Award for his contribution on Mariah Carey's " We Belong Together" from '' The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005). He continued with Mariah Carey's follow-up album ''E=MC²'' (2008), Usher's '' Here I Stand'' (2008), and

's '' 20 Y.O.'' (2006) and ''

Discipline Discipline is the self-control that is gained by requiring that rules or orders be obeyed, and the ability to keep working at something that is difficult. Disciplinarians believe that such self-control is of the utmost importance and enforce a ...

'' (2008).Manuel Seal Jr
at

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seal, Manuel Jr. 1960 births Living people People from Freeport, Illinois Record producers from Illinois Songwriters from Illinois Grammy Award winners 21st-century African-American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople African-American record producers American music industry executives 20th-century African-American musicians