Tony Rich

Biography

Antonio Jeffries (born November 19, 1971), better known as Tony Rich and The Tony Rich Project, is an American Grammy Award-winning R&B singer-songwriter best known for his 1995 hit single "Nobody Knows×Nobody Knows6 November 1995 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Nobody Knows (radio edit)4:272Nobody Knows5:083Nobody Knows (instrumental)5:10".

Early career

Rich was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, and first attracted attention of John Salley of the then Detroit Pistons. Upon working at Salley's Detroit recording studio, Hoop Sounds, Tony was introduced to the production team of Tim & Bob. The duo was in transit to Atlanta to work with Dallas Austin and promised that they would connect Tony once they were there. They told Perri "Pebbles" Reid (then the wife of L.A. Reid, co-founder of LaFace Records) to listen to one of Rich's songs over the phone. Pebble then suggested that Rich work with her husband L.A Reid and was subsequently hired as a house songwriter for LaFace Records, penning hit singles for artists such as Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Elton John, A Few Good Men and Johnny Gill. As incoming Vice President of A&R, Eddie F then convinced L.A. Reid to sign him as an artist. Later, Rich mixed elements of jazz, rock country and soul into his tracks.

The Tony Rich Project

After signing with LaFace Records as an artist, Rich began work on his debut album. The set's lead single "Nobody Knows×Nobody Knows6 November 1995 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Nobody Knows (radio edit)4:272Nobody Knows5:083Nobody Knows (instrumental)5:10" was released in November 1995, and became a hit single, making it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following year. Under the moniker "The Tony Rich Project," he released his debut album Words×Words1995 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Hey Blue3:482Nobody Knows5:073Like a Woman4:074Grass Is Green4:085Ghost4:216Leavin’3:447Billy Goat4:118Under Her Spell4:249Little Ones3:3710Missin' You3:52 in early 1996. Both the album and single went platinum. The album's follow-up single "Like a Woman×Like a Woman1996 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Like a Woman (Brendan O'Brien mix)4:302Like a Woman (R&B mix)4:423Like a Woman4:104Like a Woman (album a cappella)3:525Like a Woman (R&B instrumental)4:41" garnered moderate success giving Rich another Top30 AC single. He also contributed the track "Highway" to the soundtrack to the 1996 action film Fled and "You're a Winner" to the Rhythm of the Games: 1996 Olympic Games Album compilation.
The following year, Rich received four Grammy Award nominations including Best New Artist, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ("Nobody Knows"), Best R&B Album ("Words"), and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Like a Woman"), winning the award for Best R&B Album.
A third single, "Leavin'" was released in 1997 from his debut album and peaked at No. 88 on the Hot 100 and No. 53 on the R&B chart. Also that year, he did some songwriting/production work on albums by Sam Salter, Michael Bolton, 4.0, and Aaron Neville.
He made his feature film debut, portraying Duke Ellington in the 1997 crime drama Hoodlum. He recorded the track "Harlem is Home" for the movie soundtrack.
After the success of his debut, Rich began work on his next album. The album's first single "Silly Man" was released in 1998 and gained some airplay. His second album Birdseye×Birdseye11 August 1998 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Birdseye4:572Silly Man3:433No Time Soon3:414If You're An Angel3:405Bed4:176Cool Like That3:267Thoughts Of Leavin'4:148My Stomach Hurts4:179Blue Butterfly4:4910Ain't No Laughing4:11 was released on August 8, 1998, and peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was critically praised, but failed to generate much commercial success. Due to some label issues/mergers, his album was caught in limbo. That same year, he was commissioned to produce a few remixes for the Spice Girls hit single "Viva Forever" in addition to doing some appearances/production work on albums by CeCe Winans and Eric Clapton.
With his Birdseye album's cycle cut short, he took some time off to work on various projects.
In 1999, he recorded a remake of the classic song "If This World Were Mine" with Grenique for the Marvin is 60 compilation tribute album. For the next few years, he would write and compose songs for a couple of gospel artists such as Anointed and The Wordd. He also contributed a few tracks to the Guy reunion album Guy III of which "Why You Wanna Keep Me from My Baby" was released as a single and peaked at No. 50 on the R&B charts.
In 2003, Rich returned with his third album Resurrected×Resurrected2003 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Future Daze4:502Free3:293Red Wine4:094Don't Call Me4:215The War Is Over3:066Traveling Alone4:427The Only Way 2 Love Me3:498Let Me4:539Mental Purgatory6:23102 Waters6:4011When I Miss U4:1112Barbershop4:1013Be the One4:2714Within My Soul4:5915Yeah! Yeah! (live)5:57 which marked his first release as an independent artist. Carrying a very different styles, the album featured Rich influenced by Rock music, focusing on his guitar work, in addition to various styles of music. The set's lead single "Traveling Alone" became an Urban AC hit and also became a huge hit in the Brazilian market as covered by the artist Luisa Possi and the album had a follow-up single with the track "Red Wine."
In 2006, Rich released his fourth album, Pictures×Pictures2 May 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Because There's U (Prelude)1:252Gone Girl4:083Somethin' About U4:064R U Breathin?4:015That One (That Girl)3:416Quiet4:297Pictures (Never Die)1:428Would U Lie?3:189Moving On4:1310Sponge4:0811Do You Feel Me (interlude)1:4312U My Girl3:1713She Loves Me3:0014Don't Be Worried3:0615Beautiful4:08 which featured the theme of snapshots of a relationship. It garnered a positive response from his fans, who marked the return to a R&B-focused genre than his previous release.
In 2007, he signed with Hidden Beach Recordings, and began work on his fifth solo album Exist×Exist17 September 2008 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Part the Waves3:312It Would Be a Sin4:293Jordan4:084According to You4:065Sugar Hill4:166Sweet Addiction3:197I Wanna Be3:228Anymore4:369Oh Baby4:3210I Already Know4:0311With You Through It4:10. The first single from the album "Part the Waves" was released as a digital single, and the album soon followed on September 23, 2008.
Following the promotion of the album with some tour dates and televised performances, his album track "Sweet Addiction" was featured on Hidden Beach Recordings' Hidden Beach Valentines Vol. 1: Love, Passion & Other Emotions compilation.
In 2009, he began preparations to release a new studio album titled Speak Me with Hidden Beach Recordings. However, it wasn't until 2013 that the album was then scheduled to be released on March 19, 2013. The album's lead single "Fade Away" was pushed to Smooth Jazz / Smooth AC radio. The album was later pushed back to a summer release but eventually shelved. However, snippets of the album were made available through Hidden Beach Recordings' SoundCloud account.
The latest release from The Tony Rich Project is Encaustic, released in October 2017.