Anthony Hamilton

Biography

Anthony Cornelius Hamilton (born January 28, 1971) is an American singer. Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, he signed with Uptown Records, an imprint of MCA Records to record his debut studio album XTC; scheduled for release in 1996, it was ultimately shelved due to its singles failing to chart. He then gained recognition for his guest performance on Nappy Roots' 2002 single "Po' Folks", which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and led him to sign with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Arista Records.
Hamilton's second studio album, Comin' from Where I'm From (2003) received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), earned four Grammy Award nominations, and spawned the 2004 single "Charlene", which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. His third and fourth albums, Ain't Nobody Worryin' (2005) and The Point of It All×The Point of It All15 December 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1The News3:342Cool4:163The Day We Met3:584Diamond in the Rough3:375I Did It for Sho3:196Hard to Breathe4:127Soul’s on Fire4:238Please Stay5:039The Point of It All3:5010Fallin’ in Love3:0711Prayin’ for You / Superman7:5412Her Heart4:0313Fine Again4:3014She’s Gone3:2815Do You Feel Me (main version) (clean)3:55 (2008), both peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard 200 and received gold certifications by the RIAA. He then parted ways with So So Def in favor of RCA Records to release his fifth and sixth albums, Back to Love×Back to Love13 December 2011 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Back to Love2Writing on the Wall3Woo4Pray for Me5Best of Me6Never Let Go7Mad8I’ll Wait to Fall in Love9Sucka for You10Baby Girl11Who’s Loving You12Life Has a Way (2011) and What I'm Feelin'×What I'm Feelin'18 March 2016 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Save Me3:552Ain't No Shame4:383What I'm Feelin'3:594Amen3:375I Want You4:246Never Letting Go3:517Grateful4:188Walk in My Shoes4:029Take You Home4:5410Still3:2411Ever Seen Heaven2:4812Love Is an Angry Thing3:38 (2016).
Hamilton has won a Grammy Award from 12 nominations, and is also known for his song "Freedom" (with Elayna Boynton), which he co-wrote and performed for the soundtrack album to the 2012 film Django Unchained.

Career

A Charlotte native, Hamilton began singing in his church's choir at age 17. He attended South Mecklenburg High School, where he performed as part of in their award-winning choir directed by Mark Setzer. In 1992, he met producer Mark Sparks, who encouraged Hamilton to leave Charlotte and head to New York City, where he signed with Andre Harrell's Uptown Records. In 1996, he recorded the album XTC for MCA Records, which has remained unreleased.
Hamilton co-wrote the 1999 hit "U Know What's Up" for singer Donell Jones. In 2000, he joined soul singer D'Angelo's international tour in promotion of the Voodoo album, where he featured as a backup singer.

Nappy Roots

Hamilton was first introduced to mainstream audiences with after performing the chorus to Nappy Roots 2002 single "Po' Folks", which earned a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" in 2003. "Po' Folks" is the second single from the debut album, Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz (2002). Hamilton further collaborated with Nappy Roots on their songs the songs "Sick & Tired", "Push On", and "Organic" from their second studio album for Atlantic Records: Wooden Leather (2003); he also guest performed on the lead single—"Down N' Out"—to their third album, The Humdinger (2008). Nappy Roots and Hamilton both guest performed on Mark Ronson's 2003 song "Bluegrass Stain'd" from the latter's album Here Comes the Fuzz.

2002–present

Hamilton made a guest appearances on Tupac Shakur's posthumous album Better Dayz (2002)—on the album's second disc version of "Thugz Mansion".
In 2003 he released his debut album Comin' From Where I'm From that featured the hit single "Charlene".
He guest featured on Jadakiss' 2004 single "Why", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
After MCA had failed to give XTC proper release, Hamilton signed with the Chris Dawley's Soulife Records. In the period 1999 to 2001, prior to his 2003 official debut, Hamilton's first compilation album, Soulife×Soulife28 June 2005 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1I Used to Love Someone5:512I Cry4:263Clearly4:074Georgie Parker3:565Day Dreamin4:236Ball and Chain3:407Ol' Keeper4:418Love and War5:249Last Night4:1210Love Is So Complicated5:0411Icing on the Cake4:5112Exclusively6:39 was released in June 2005 and was composed of songs recorded . After the record company went bankrupt the recording were shelved. Arista asked Hamilton to revisited the material and with parts re-recorded, a selection was released as Soulife in June 2005. Ain't Nobody Worryin', his third studio album, was released on December 13, 2005 and received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Hamilton guest appeared on a song from the RH Factor's 2003 album Hard Groove—"Kwah/Home". He appeared on Angie Stone's "Stay For A While" in 2004. He made a guest appearance on blues singer-guitarist Buddy Guy's 2005 album Bring 'Em In, contributing vocals to a cover version of Bob Dylan's 1969 "Lay Lady Lay", which featured Robert Randolph.
At the 2006 BET Awards, Hamilton won the BET J "Cool Like That" Award. Comedian Dave Chappelle had Hamilton as a musical guest on his show Chappelle's Show in episode 6, Season 2 that premiered on Comedy Central. In later 2006, he guest performed on Tupac Shakur's "Dear Mama (Frank Nitty Remix)". He made a guest appearance on the UPN show All of Us in Season 2. Hamilton made a cameo as a soul singer in the film American Gangster, to whose soundtrack he contributed. During the 2008 BET Awards, Hamilton performed Al Green's "Tired of Being Alone" during a tribute to Green's career. Later in 2008, he was featured on Jeezy's album The Recession, which peaked atop the Billboard 200.
In July 2011, Jill Scott released her single "So In Love" featuring Hamilton. The song spent 19 weeks at number one on the Urban adult contemporary charts. In 2012, Hamilton made guest appearances two successful releases for Def Jam Recordings artists: Big K.R.I.T.'s Live from the Underground and Life Is Good by Nas, the latter of which debuted atop the Billboard 200. Hamilton also co-performed on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained with his the song "Freedom", a duet with soul singer Elayna Boynton. British DJ Ben Pearce sampled vocals from Hamilton's song, "Cornbread, Fish & Collard Greens" in his 2013 song, "What I Might Do".
In February 2015, Hamilton made a cameo appearance on the television series Empire, where he performed "Point of It All" as part of main character Luscious Lyon's proposal to his girlfriend. The episode aired February 4, 2015. In August 2015, Hamilton made a guest appearance on the song "That One", the first single from Teedra Moses' second album Cognac & Conversation.
On February 24, 2016, Hamilton performed at the last "In Performance at the White House" hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle as part of a tribute to singer Ray Charles. On March 25, he released his sixth album What I'm Feelin (2016), which he describes as an "emotional" cleanse reflecting on some of the hurdles he has faced. The album features guitarists Gary Clark, Jr. and Vince Gill, and songs produced by Mark Batson, Salaam Remi, and James Poyser, among others. Hamilton worked with the background singers the HamilTones, who often perform soul renditions of hip hop tracks. That same month, Hamilton partnered with Cracker Barrel Old Country to release a deluxe version of the album sold online and in their stores. On March 28, 2016, Hamilton performed on NPR's critically acclaimed Tiny Desk Concerts, where he performed his the singles "Amen", "Best of Me", "Cool", and "Charlene". Chris Brown recruited Hamilton to perform on the "Legends" remix of his single "Back to Sleep", which was released on April 10, 2016. On April 21, 2016, Hamilton embarked on a nationwide tour with Fantasia.
In 2017, Hamilton co-performed on the song "Carnival" for the virtual band Gorillaz from their fifth album Humanz. On May 15, 2020, Hamilton released the single "Back Together" featuring Rick James through Hamilton's label My Music Box, in partnership with BMG. The song was co-written by Hamilton and Ed D. Kane, and produced by 9th Wonder. It served as the lead single from his seventh album, Love Is the New Black×Love Is the New Black24 September 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Love Is the New Black2:582Threw It All Away4:053Real Love4:314I'm Ready3:165White Hennessy2:496Coming Home3:397You Made a Fool of Me3:238I Thought We Were in Love3:599Superstar6:3510Pillows3:2711I'm Sorry3:4112Mercy3:5013Safe3:0814Mama Don't Cry3:26, released on September 24, 2021.
On August 28, 2025, Hamilton and actor Omari Hardwick released the collaborative album Pages×PAGES28 August 2025 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 18 tracks1ENTRY PAGE0:392PAGE 14:363PAGE 23:004WHY THE PAGED WORD STINGS2:505PAGE 33:576PAGE 44:537COMING TO THE PAGE2:118PAGE 54:339PAGE 63:5510FLIPPIN DA PAGE3:3111SAME PAGE5:4012WHY THE PAGED WORD SINGS2:3513PAGE 75:2514PAGES2:1715PAGE 84:3116FRESH PAGE4:3917SCRATCH PAGE4:5918FINAL PAGE0:54, a mixture of spoken word poetry and melody.

Personal life

Hamilton has six sons.
Dating since 2003, he married his background singer Tarsha McMillan in 2005. On November 2, 2010, Hamilton and his wife Tarsha welcomed twin boys. On his official Facebook page on June 11, 2012, Hamilton announced the birth of another son. The couple announced on June 20, 2015, after 10 years of marriage, that they were getting a divorce.