Tony Rich

Antonio Jeffries Jr. (born November 19, 1971), better known as Tony Rich and The Tony Rich Project, is a contemporary R&B singer-songwriter best known for his single "Nobody Knows".

Biography

Early career

Rich first attracted attention through the production team of Tim & Bob. The duo convinced Perri "Pebbles" Reid (then the wife of L.A. Reid, co-founder of LaFace Records) to listen to Rich over the phone. Rich was hired as a house songwriter for LaFace Records. As incoming Vice President of A&R, Eddie F then convinced Reid to sign him as an artist. Later, Rich mixed elements of jazz, rock and soul music into his own tracks.

The Tony Rich Project

In January 1996 Rich released the hit single, "Nobody Knows", which made it to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Under the moniker "The Tony Rich Project", he released his debut album Words in early 1996. Both the album and single went platinum and in 1997, Rich won a Grammy Award for the Best R&B Album. The song was covered by country music artist Kevin Sharp in 1997, also as his debut single. The song "Like a Woman" was also nominated for a Grammy Award.

Words (Tony Rich album)

Words is the debut album by American R&B musician Tony Rich (under the moniker "The Tony Rich Project"), released January 16, 1996 on LaFace Records. The album is produced, written, arranged and performed by Rich. In 1997, the album won a Grammy Award for the Best R&B Album.

At the start of 1996 with the acoustic R&B ballad, "Nobody Knows", the song was a hit peaking at #2 for 2 weeks, going platinum, and spending almost a year on the Billboard Hot 100 (47 weeks).

In total three singles were released from Words: "Nobody Knows", "Like a Woman", and "Leavin'".

Track listing

Personnel

References