[Music] foreign
and Keith collectively known as the r b Group after seven never gave up on their dream to
make a name for themselves in the music industry they took a major leap of faith
leaving their secure day jobs and thankfully the risk paid off tenfold but just when they
started to really enjoy their success things went left ultimately they were forced to make
the painful decision to walk away from it all Marvin Edmond senior and Barbara Edmonds of
Indianapolis Indiana definitely had their hands full with their sick Sons Marvin Jr Melvin Michael
cavan Kenneth and Derek while their mother worked as a teacher and lab technician and their father
made a living managing a taxi service music was always at the core of their family life they all
enjoyed a wide variety of genres and artists but the boys especially tended to gravitate to
many of the male vocal groups including the OJ's The Stylistics and the Spinners in high school
Melvin found himself as the lead vocalist in a band singing Pop and soul Tunes it was
also around this time that the boy's father passed away unexpectedly the moment changed
her family Dynamic completely as their mother now had to work harder than ever before to raise her
half dozen children on her own and the boys were forced to grow up fast Melvin would be the first
to marry in his late teens and secured steady 9-5 work for himself at a car factory all the
while though he would still make time for music a few years later cavan would enroll at Indiana
University it was there where he would meet future group mate Keith Mitchell while in a course on
performing and the music business while in the course they performed together in a five-part male
vocal group the two took the ACT home on summer vacations along with kevon's brother Melvin and
performed around the greater Indianapolis area the Edmonds brothers and Keith had a great deal
in common he was also a native of Indianapolis and grew up in a large musically inclined family
for years though singing continued to remain just a side gig while they all maintained regular day
jobs to pay the bills Melvin at the car factory Kevon at a pharmaceutical company and Keith as
a financial planner and investment advisor even though they were all very responsible
and focused on priorities they knew that music was what they were truly called to do so in 1987
they officially took their first step on the journey which was to enlist the help of family
at this time younger brother Kenneth who would now be better known as Babyface had moved to
Los Angeles years prior and created a burgeoning career for himself as a singer with the r b band
the deal as well as producing and songwriting for other acts such as climax Paula Abdul and
Bobby Brown in collaboration with LA Reid and Daryl Simmons and after Seven's unsung episode
Babyface admits that he advised his brothers not to quit their jobs to pursue a career in
entertainment because he felt it wasn't worth the risk crazy enough the next thing he heard was that
Melvin had gotten laid off kavan was still going strong in his job 10 years strong but he hated it
Babyface later caved and brought his brothers over to the Golden State and got them hooked up with a
record deal with Virgin Records yup just like that sight unseen no audition necessary which
probably worked in their favor since at the time all three members were full-grown men in their 30s
what's wrong with that you may Wonder well nothing in regular everyday life but in the music world
youth reign supreme and anyone over the age of 30 oftentimes gets categorized as old and washed up
the trio took full advantage of getting away with no one knowing their true ages and the
fact that since black don't crack they could pass for being younger Babyface is also responsible for
giving them their name he claims he got the idea from an old answering machine he'd had
that instructed the caller that after seven seconds they would hear a beep and then they
could record a message after seven released their self-titled debut album in August 1989
it was mostly written and produced by Babyface and LA Reid their debut single and first track
released off the project Heat of the Moment became an instant head it climbed all the way
to number five on the r d chart and obtained a top 20 placement on the hot 100. the project as
a whole was an immediate success going platinum and produced two other hit singles ready or not
and can't stop both tracks hit the top spot on the r b chart and secure top 10 positions at
number 7 and number six respectively on the pop chart can't stop was also nominated for a Grammy
in the category of best star and B performance by a duo or group [Music] [Applause] [Music]
after a lot of chart success going on tour typically becomes the next step for
many recording artists and after seven was no different in the summer of 1990
they embarked on a nationwide Journey with MC Hammer Michelle a and Troop as greatest
things were going a personal issue of Melvin's was starting to negatively affect the entire
group he started being late or not showing up at all he wouldn't call and when people
try to get a hold of him he wouldn't answer Melvin was using drugs marijuana and cocaine
specifically and it was getting out of control Kevon and Keith admit that they never had any
hardcore evidence to prove what he was doing since Melvin always took off by himself and
didn't engage in any of that activity in their presence one major example of Melvin's problem
becoming everyone else's manifested in the group missing out on getting to record a song
and eventual hit written by Babyface called my my initially after seven were set to record the
track but the day it was supposed to get done Melvin was nowhere to be found Johnny Gill just
happened to come into the studio that day and Babyface decided to ask him to record it instead
moving on after seven released another top 10 r b hit in 1991 called nights like this for The Five
Heartbeats movie soundtrack they also got the amazing opportunity to take to the road again
as Whitney Houston's opening act on the U.S leg of her I'm Your Baby Tonight World Tour the group's
second album taken my time would be released in August 1992. this project didn't get the baby
face in La production touch like her first ever since they were just too busy with developing
other artists like Toni Braxton and TLC The Duo did contribute as writers though three singles
were released from the album of which the first two kick in it and a medley of the original song
baby I'm for real and bloodstones natural high placed in the top 10 on the r b chart the results
the album produced did qualify it to be considered a hit project however the numbers weren't on the
same level as their debut while some may say that the fact that the missing baby face in La
Factor was the reason the group felt that their label was to blame for dropping the ball all no
matter what the feelings were between after 7 and virgin the group forged ahead and released another
project for them three years later Reflections dropped in July 1995 reunited the trio with their
tried and true production duo Babyface and LA Reid this project is the first album where the
members of the group have credits as songwriters as well as executive producers a total of four
singles were released but only one became a hit that made it into the top five on the r b chart
call till you do me right after seven chose to heed the writing that had been on the wall for
some time and cut ties with Virgin as the only non-edmonds brother in the group Keith was asked
years later how he felt about being the odd man out he told rnbhaven.com well I mean it had its
ups and downs because you know I was kind of like the cream between two chocolate cookies like an
Oreo cookie you kinda in but you're not you know what I'm saying I played my role I welcomed the
opportunity to work with both of them and they're both great vocalists but the challenges I would
say with the fact that I had been a member of the group in college and got to lead songs and
then coming into the group I was not given that opportunity more than once or twice to lead a
phrase in a song my role in the group was what it was while the group officially disbanded in
1997 two-thirds of them Kevon and Melvin came together that same year with their brother
Babyface plus another set of Brothers Casey and JoJo from Jodeci to form the fictional quintet
milestone for the comedy drama film Soul Food the group provided one song for the soundtrack
called I care about you the group may have been fake but they managed to pull off a very real hit
the song made it all the way to number 10 on the r b chart life then carried on with everyone moving
in different directions some people fared better than others Melvin went back to working a regular
job by obtaining a trucking license Keith opened a restaurant for a time and then returned to the
music business as a manager after that he started his own construction company he also experienced
a bout of homelessness for some several months cavan never left music and released his debut
solo album titled 24 7 in October 1999. he invited his nephew Jason Melvin's son to do some
backing vocals on the project and that experience turned into him going on tour with his uncle as a
background singer for years by the late 2000s after seven was back and resumed touring with
Kevon Keith and Jason taking the place of his father the group however decided not to record
again without the participation of Melvin Melvin had been battling health issues for some time and
even had a stroke in 2011. at first it appeared that having him join the others wasn't ever going
to be possible but it happened after seven the quartet version released their first album in over
20 years titled Timeless in 2016. sadly Melvin would pass away three years later on May 18 2019
he was 65 years old Keith posted the following statement on the group's Facebook page Melvin was
without a doubt the soul of after 7 his ability to signaturize a vocal melody in rhythm and blues
music produced a vocal sound that can never be erased or duplicated Melvin's love for audiences
and fans everywhere who supported our music is what drove him on stage and in life he is and will
be missed by my family fans and Friends Melvin is survived by his four children including Jason who
would officially leave after seven a couple of months after his father's death the group then
brought in Danny McLean who remains as the third member to this day after seven released their
Fifth and last album to date appropriately titled unfinished business in August 2021
thank you