Alexander O'Neal

Alexander O'Neal (2014)

Alexander O'Neal (* 15. November 1953 in Natchez , Mississippi ) is an American R & B - singer . He had his greatest successes in the second half of the 1980s with the producer team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis . Between 1985 and 1993 he placed a total of 16 hits in the American R&B charts.

Career

Alexander O'Neal grew up in poor circumstances in Mississippi, his mother raised him and his five siblings without their father, who died in an accident before he was born. At 20 he moved to Minneapolis and tried to make money with local bands. In 1979 he became a member of the band Flyte Tyme, which played as the opening act for Prince in the early 1980s and to which the later producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis also belonged. O'Neal left the band, however, before their first LP was released under the new group name The Time . After that, O'Neal started a solo career.

His first singles Do You Dare? and Attitude appeared on smaller labels in 1983, but were unsuccessful. The commercial breakthrough came with the move to Tabu Records and the collaboration with Jam and Lewis. The producer duo was responsible for the debut Alexander O'Neal (1985), which contained Tonight O'Neal's first two top 20 hits in the R&B charts with Innocent and If You Were Here . The singer's final breakthrough came in early 1986 when he sang the duet Saturday Love with his R&B colleague Cherrelle . The single reached the top 30 in the US, climbed to # 2 on the R&B charts, and was also a top 10 hit in the UK. The duo repeated the success two years later with Never Knew Love Like This (USA 28, R&B 2, UK 26).

O'Neal had alcohol and drug problems that forced him into rehab in 1986. After that, his career continued to improve : O'Neal's most successful album Hearsay was released in 1987 and received a gold award in the USA for over 500,000 units sold. The work was again produced by Jam / Lewis and conceptually based on the autobiographical album Control by Janet Jackson , who made world career at the same time with the same production team. With Fake and Criticize , the most successful singles in O'Neal's career were released, which also made the singer known in Germany. Fake was also its only number one on the American R&B charts.

It was even more successful in Great Britain, where O'Neal could rely on a particularly loyal fan base. Criticize was a top 10 success here, further single releases from Hearsay and remixes lasted until 1989. At the end of 1988 O'Neal also released a Christmas record . At the height of his success, O'Neal performed six sold-out evenings at London's Wembley Stadium - a record for an African American singer.

In 1991 O'Neal released the CD All True Man , which was again awarded gold in the USA. The title track was a hit in the US (# 43, R&B 5) and the UK (# 18). After this album, the collaboration with Jam and Lewis ended, at the same time O'Neal's success decreased. In addition, the singer struggled again with his drug addiction for several years. With the moderately successful album Love Makes No Sense , the contract with Tabu ended in 1993, after which the singer released albums with smaller record companies at longer intervals. He is still in demand as a live artist, and he continues to perform with his colleague Cherrelle. In 2010 O'Neal moved back to Minneapolis after living in London for 14 years. In 2011, African-American television network TV One presented an episode with O'Neal and Cherrelle in the Unsung series , which is dedicated to R&B stars who received less attention than others.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1985	Alexander O'Neal	-	-	-	UK19th gold (18 weeks)UK	US92 (18 weeks) US	First published: March 8, 1985
1987	Hearsay	DE22 (13 weeks) DE	AT22 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK4th × 3 Triple platinum (103 weeks)UK	US29 gold (40 weeks)US	First published: July 29, 1987
1989	My Gift to You	-	-	-	UK53 (3 weeks) UK	US149 (5 weeks) US	First published: November 11, 1988
1991	All true man	DE36 (10 weeks) DE	-	-	UK2 gold (16 weeks)UK	US49 gold (15 weeks)US	First published: January 25, 1991
1993	Love Makes No Sense	-	-	-	UK14 (4 weeks) UK	US89 (8 weeks) US	First published: February 9, 1993
1996	Lovers Again	DE63 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: 1996
2008	Alex Loves	-	-	-	UK49 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 28, 2008

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1988	All mixed up	-	-	-	-	US185 (5 weeks) US	First published: 1988
1992	This Thing Called Love: The Greatest Hits of	-	-	-	UK4th gold (18 weeks)UK	-	First published: May 1992
2004	Greatest hits	-	-	-	UK12 gold (6 weeks)UK	-	First published: August 2004

More albums

• 1995: The Best of
• 2002: Saga of a Married Man
• 2010: Five Questions: The New Journey
• 2011: Icon
• 2017: Hearsay 30

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1985	Saturday Love Greatest Hits / High Priority	-	-	-	UK6 (14 weeks) UK	US26 (17 weeks) US	First published: 1985 with Cherrelle
	If You Were Here Tonight Alexander O'Neal	-	-	-	UK13 (14 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1985
	A Broken Heart Can Mend Alexander O'Neal	-	-	-	UK53 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 1985
1986	What's Missing Alexander O'Neal	-	-	-	UK90 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1986
	You Were Meant to Be My Lady Alexander O'Neal	-	-	-	UK98 (1 week) UK	-	First published: August 1986
1987	Fake Hearsay	DE17 (12 weeks) DE	-	CH22 (5 weeks) CH	UK16 (17 weeks) UK	US25 (15 weeks) US	First published: May 1987
	Criticize Hearsay	DE24 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	UK4th silver (16 weeks)UK	US70 (11 weeks) US	First published: October 1987
	Never Knew Love Like This Hearsay / Greatest Hits	DE49 (6 weeks) DE	-	-	UK26 (7 weeks) UK	US28 (14 weeks) US	First published: December 1987 with Cherrelle
1988	The Lovers Hearsay	-	-	-	UK28 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1988
	(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me Hearsay	-	-	-	UK27 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: July 1988
	The Christmas Song / Thank You for a Good Year My Gift to You	-	-	-	UK30 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 1988
1989	Hearsay Hearsay	-	-	-	UK56 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1989
	Sunshine Hearsay	-	-	-	UK72 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 1989
	Hit Mix (Official Bootleg Megamix)	DE43 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	UK19 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 1989
1991	All True Man All True Man	-	-	-	UK18 (7 weeks) UK	US43 (11 weeks) US	First published: January 1991
	What Is This Thing Called Love? All true man	-	-	-	UK53 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1991
	Shame on Me All True Man	-	-	-	UK71 (1 week) UK	-	First published: May 1991
1992	Sentimental All True Man	-	-	-	UK53 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1992
	Love Makes No Sense Love Makes No Sense	-	-	-	UK26 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 1992
1993	In the Middle Love Makes No Sense	-	-	-	UK32 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1993
	All That Matters to Me Love Makes No Sense	DE51 (12 weeks) DE	-	-	UK67 (1 week) UK	-	First published: August 1993
	Since I've Been Lovin 'You Love Makes No Sense	DE51 (19 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: November 1993
1996	Let's Get Together Lovers Again	-	-	-	UK38 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1996
1997	Baby come to me lovers again	-	-	-	UK56 (1 week) UK	-	First release: July 1997 feat. Cherrelle

Web links

• official homepage
• Alexander O'Neal at Allmusic (English)
• Alexander O'Neal at Discogs (English)
• Alexander O'Neal in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Alexander O'Neal on MusicBrainz (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Unsung: Alexander O'Neal and Cherrelle ( memento June 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), YouTube.Com, accessed August 12, 2011
2. ^ Adam White and Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits , Billboard Books, 1993, ISBN 0-8230-8285-7 , pages 392/3
3. ↑ BBC Review Hearsay , BBC.co.uk, March 12, 2009, accessed August 12, 2011
4. ↑ Alexander O'Neal and Cherrelle , tvoneonline.com, accessed March 14, 2015.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
6. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK US