Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi.
O'Neal came to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven Top 40 singles on the US R&B chart, three of which also reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. However, he enjoyed more mainstream success in the United Kingdom, achieving fourteen Top 40 singles on the UK Singles Chart between 1985 and 1996, along with three top ten albums on the UK Albums Chart.
His solo singles, sometimes dealing with lost love, include "If You Were Here Tonight", "Fake", "Criticize", "The Lovers", "(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me", "All True Man", "Love Makes No Sense" and "In the Middle". He is also known for duets with Tabu labelmate Cherrelle such as "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This". AllMusic described O'Neal as having a "tough voice [that] has the same grain and range as that of Otis Redding."
O'Neal released his debut album, the eponymous Alexander O'Neal, in 1985. Since then, he has released nine studio albums, six compilation albums and two live albums.
Early life
Alexander O'Neal was born November 15, 1953, in Natchez, Mississippi, United States, just a few months after his father died. After graduating from high school in Natchez, he attended Alcorn State University. At the age of 20, he relocated to Minneapolis, where he performed with several bands including the Mystics and Wynd Chymes. He became a member of Enterprise for a brief period before joining Flyte Tyme, a band which included Monte Moir, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
Early career
According to Jimmy Jam, In 1980/1981 O'Neal (along with fellow members of the band Flyte Tyme) met with Prince and Morris Day at Perkins restaurant in Minneapolis to discuss forming a band that would be called The Time that would be signed to Prince under the Warner Bros. label. Following a disagreement with Prince, O'Neal was replaced as lead singer by Morris Day.
O'Neal subsequently formed an R&B band called Alexander and recorded a couple 12" singles, "Do You Dare/Playroom" and "Attitude" for a Chicago area independent label, based in Merrillville, Indiana, called Erect Records.
In 1984 O'Neal signed a deal with Clarence Avant's Tabu Records. He did some backing vocals for other artists on the same label, including The S.O.S. Band and Cherrelle.
1985–present: solo career
In 1985, O'Neal released his self-titled debut album under the production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as well as Monte Moir. It included three singles that reached the Top 20 of the R&B Singles Chart. The same year, he also scored his first R&B Top 10 single with "Saturday Love", a duet with Cherrelle from her High Priority album. The song peaked at #2 on the R&B chart and #26 on the pop chart, while also beginning a string of UK hit singles for O'Neal by peaking at #6 on the UK Singles Chart in early 1986. This UK success continued when "If You Were Here Tonight", which had previously peaked at #81, re-entered the charts to reach #13 in March 1986.
In 1987, O'Neal released the album Hearsay, which was certified gold in the US and yielded his biggest US hit in "Fake", which topped the R&B chart and reached #25 on the pop chart. The song also peaked at #7 on the Billboard dance chart. The follow-up single, "Criticize", peaked at #4 on the R&B chart and #70 on the pop chart. The third single, "Never Knew Love Like This", another duet with Cherrelle, peaked at #2 on the R&B chart and #28 on the pop chart. However, by this time O'Neal was enjoying much greater success in the UK, where Hearsay peaked at #4 on the UK Albums Chart, eventually being certified triple platinum and spawning six Top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart. The most successful of these gave O'Neal his biggest UK hit when "Criticize" peaked at #4 on the chart in late 1987. "Fake" became a UK Top 40 hit twice, first in 1987 followed by a remix ("Fake '88") in 1988. The "Hit Mix" (a megamix of O'Neal's hits) also reached the UK Top 20 in December 1989.
In December 1988 O'Neal released a Christmas album, My Gift to You, featuring a cover of "The Christmas Song" that reached the UK Top 40.