PJ Morton

Biography

Paul Sylvester "P.J." Morton Jr. (born March 29, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2010, he joined pop rock band Maroon 5, as a touring member and became an official member after Jesse Carmichael went on a brief hiatus in 2012. During this period, Morton signed with Young Money to release his debut major-label studio album, New Orleans×New Orleans14 May 2013 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1New Orleans2Only One3Never Get Over You4Heavy5Hard Enough6Work It Out7Trade It All8First Sight9Always Be10Go Alone11Motions12Only One (Live at Soul Night)13Heavy (Live at Soul Night) (2013), and later self-released Gumbo×Gumbo14 April 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1First Began3:532Claustrophobic3:483Sticking to My Guns3:414Religion3:225Alright1:556Everything's Gonna Be Alright2:437They Gon' Wanna Come3:258Go Thru Your Phone2:289How Deep Is Your Love3:17, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. Since then he has received six Grammy Awards.
Outside of music, Morton stated in 2019 that he would begin a project to restore the New Orleans home of jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden and create a museum and community space at the site. Bolden's former home has been owned by Morton's father's church for more than a decade, and had been cited for demolition by neglect.

Early life and education

Morton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father is Canadian-born American gospel singer and Founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, Bishop Paul S. Morton. His mother is Dr. Debra Brown Morton, pastor of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church.
Morton graduated St. Augustine High School and majored in marketing at Morehouse College, graduating in 2003.

Maroon 5

In 2010, Morton's friend and Maroon 5's musical director Adam Blackstone asked him to audition for a position in the band as a touring keyboardist and backing vocalist. Morton was the first to audition and left an indelible mark on the group. Since then, he has played with Maroon 5 in concerts and other live performances. From 2012 to 2014 Morton filled-in for the band's keyboardist, Jesse Carmichael, who was on an indefinite hiatus from performing with the group, as stated on their official website in March 2012. Also in 2012, he joined the band as a full-time member, contributing his vocal and keyboard parts on Maroon 5's fourth studio album, Overexposed, and continuing to do so during the processes of recording the band's albums, V (2014), Red Pill Blues (2017), Jordi (2021), and Love Is Like (2025).

Signing to Young Money and New Orleans

Morton's solo work won the attention of Mack Maine, who signed him to his production company, Soothe Your Soul, and Young Money Entertainment in 2011. The Following My First Mind (EP) was released on March 27, 2012.
On May 14, 2013, Morton released his major-label debut studio album with Young Money Records, titled New Orleans×New Orleans14 May 2013 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1New Orleans2Only One3Never Get Over You4Heavy5Hard Enough6Work It Out7Trade It All8First Sight9Always Be10Go Alone11Motions12Only One (Live at Soul Night)13Heavy (Live at Soul Night). The album's lead single, "Only One", which features Stevie Wonder, was nominated for the Best R&B Song at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014.

Gumbo and Paul

In 2016, Morton moved to New Orleans and opened a record label called Morton Recordings which he envisioned as "the New Orleans Motown". Same year, Morton started working on Gumbo. About the album's title he said "I named it Gumbo×Gumbo14 April 2017 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1First Began3:532Claustrophobic3:483Sticking to My Guns3:414Religion3:225Alright1:556Everything's Gonna Be Alright2:437They Gon' Wanna Come3:258Go Thru Your Phone2:289How Deep Is Your Love3:17 because the actual dish is a bunch of things mixed in together to make [something] beautiful. I wanted to grow as a songwriter and talk about more things ... about where we are in the world today, the tension, how divided we are as a country. It kind of felt like I was dumping a bunch of subject matter together and I made it in New Orleans so that sounded like gumbo to me." As a first step, on March 25, 2016, Morton released Bounce & Soul Vol. 1, a mixtape which includes re-imagined versions of his best songs in New Orleans' bounce style. On July 1, 2016, Morton released the Sticking to My Guns EP, featuring the single of the same name. The EP, besides including alternative versions of "First Began" and "Sticking to My Guns", also contains "Say So", a song that was later cut from the final tracklist of the album. On November 15, 2016, Morton released "You Should Be Ashamed", a Stevie Wonder-esque socially conscious song that was later replaced by "Religion". On March 13, 2017, Morton announced on his Instagram page April 14, 2017 as the release date of Gumbo.
Gumbo did not manage to enter on the US Billboard 200 chart but received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented Morton's style and praised him for his singing and songwriting. The album earned Morton two Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. On February 14, 2019, Morton collaborated with singer JoJo on the song "Say So", which served as the lead single for his sixth album Paul.

Gospel According To PJ and The Piano Album

In 2020, Morton recorded his live album, The Piano Album×The Piano Album14 February 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Ready (acoustic version)2:332Don’t Break My Heart (acoustic version)4:223Say So (acoustic version)3:574First Began (acoustic version)3:335Go Thru Your Phone (acoustic version)3:476Two Hearts (acoustic version)3:307Kid Again (acoustic version)2:388Mountains and Molehills (acoustic version)4:489Alright (acoustic version)2:2210Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (acoustic version)8:5911Let Go (acoustic version)6:1612How Deep Is Your Love (acoustic version)4:04. It features songs from Gumbo and Paul. On August 28, 2020, Morton released his long awaited gospel album Gospel According to PJ. The album features The Clark Sisters, Commissioned, Zacardi Cortez, Darrel Walls, and others. It also features remade versions of So In Love by Amber Bullock, Over and Over by Trinitee 5:7, and Let Go by Dwayne Woods. A documentary was released talking about how he was pressured to make Gospel music, the process of each song, and his father. Don't Let Go from his previous album Paul was included featuring Kim Burrell. Do You Believe feat. Yolanda Adams was included from "Christmas With PJ Morton×Christmas With PJ Morton9 November 2018 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Winter Wonderland2:392The Christmas Song2:483Do You Believe4:094I’ll Be Home for Christmas3:585All I Want for Christmas Is You4:236Peyton’s Lullaby (Right Away)1:517This Christmas2:458Give Love on Christmas Day3:179Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas3:2310White Christmas5:22."

Other work

After winning Grammy Awards for his songwriting and production on India.Arie's Interested, Morton won Dove and Stellar Awards in 2008.
Morton was also noticed by AR Rahman, composer for Slumdog Millionaire, who asked Morton to contribute "Sajna" to the soundtrack and movie for the Vince Vaughn comedy Couples Retreat. Morton has also produced and written for musicians such as Jermaine Dupri, LL Cool J, Jagged Edge, Monica, India.Arie, gospel musicians Fred Hammond, Men of Standard, Brian Courtney Wilson, and Heather Headley. In 2009, he published a book entitled ' Why Can't I Sing About Love?
Morton who wrote a song called "Battle Field" by Chinese singer Jane Zhang from the 2016 film The Great Wall.
in October 2023, Morton was featured in Portuguese singer Barbara Bandeira's debut studio album Finda on the track Ego.
Morton wrote the song "Special Spice" for the theme park attraction Tiana's Bayou Adventure, which is inspired by Disney Animation's 2009 film The Princess and the Frog.

Personal life

He married his wife Kortni Morton on December 25, 2008. They grew up attending the same church and began dating as adults. They have three children.

As solo artist

Studio albums

Emotions (2005)
Walk Alone (2010)
New Orleans (2013)
Gumbo (2017)
Christmas with PJ Morton (2018)
Paul (2019)
Gospel According to PJ: From the Songbook of PJ Morton (2020)
Watch the Sun (2022)
Cape Town to Cairo (2024)
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning (2026)
Live albums

Live from LA (2008)
Live Show Killer (2015)
Gumbo Unplugged (2018)
The Piano Album (2020)
Watch the Sun Live: The Mansion Sessions (2023)
Mixtape

Bounce & Soul Volume 1 (2016)
EPs

Following My First Mind (2012)
Sticking to My Guns (2016)

With Maroon 5

Overexposed (2012)
V (2014)
Red Pill Blues (2017)
Jordi (2021)
Love Is Like (2025)

Remixes

2017

"The Cat Looks at the King (PJ Morton Remix)" – Collapsing Scenery featuring Good Joon and Buddy