one could assume that being compared to superstars such as michael jackson and prince is a good thing
however terence trent darby never let the opinions of others dictate the approach to his art
throughout his career he's even said in interviews that he strongly believes the comparisons
were more rooted in him having a similar skin tone as his predecessors than anything else what
he does believe that he has in common with the aforementioned icons is that his goal is to come
from as many different directions as possible to stretch the boundaries of what is considered to be
black music taryn strent darby born terence trent howard in new york city in the early 60s
came about his new surname when his mother married the man who raised him
who was also a bishop in the pentecostal church terence then took his stepfather's last name
and later added the apostrophe him and his six siblings were raised on gospel music
but not just any kind terence remembers not being allowed to listen to certain types of gospel songs
that his parents found to be too modern he first became interested in music around the age of five
after an experience he had performing in a church service an elder came up to him afterwards
buried him in her large bosom while giving him a hug and put a quarter in his hand
now at that time a quarter was big money to a kid and could go far buying candy he thought if he
could get this kind of attention and make money through music music was what he was going to do
growing up in the u.s terence never felt like he fit in as a light-skinned black kid he says
he wasn't accepted by either blacks or whites one of his goals he recalls was to be famous
before his 10th high school reunion so he could show his old schoolmates he was somebody after
all terence was quite the athlete in his youth training as a boxer in orlando florida in 1980
he won the florida golden gloves lightweight championship after giving college a try for a
year where he studied journalism he dropped out and enlisted in the army because in his
words he was quote bored it turned out to be a great decision as far as he was concerned
since it gave him the opportunity to travel to europe west germany to be exact after getting a
taste of life overseas that he thoroughly enjoyed terence knew he wouldn't be going
back to live in the us anytime soon not all his military experiences were positive though
in 1983 he was formerly formally court-martialed and dishonorably discharged after going awol
while living in west germany terence worked as a bandleader with the band the touch
and released an album titled love on time eventually he would leave west germany for london
after signing a solo deal with cbs records terence's debut album introducing the hard
line according to terence trent darby dropped in july 1987. it produced the hits if you let me
stay dance little sister sign your name and the billboard hot 100 number one smash wishing well
he was famously quoted as referring to himself as a genius and saying the album was better
than sergeant pepper's lonely hearts club band the eighth studio album by the beatles
people were highly irritated by the comment and as a result by the time word hit the streets in the
u.s he began to receive major backlash over his perceived inflated ego in an interview with the
washington post just eight months later terence explained what his motives were behind what he
said you've got to realize that i said a lot of things in england a lot of it was what i truly
believed but a lot of it was exaggerated to make a point you have to hit people over the head to
make them notice and i did it i know how to play the game his debut album earned him a grammy award
for best male r b vocal performance and a brit award for international breakthrough act terence
would also make his mark on the big and small screens in a variety of ways and in the process
left an indelible mark on pop culture he took on a handful of acting jobs with the most prominent
being in the 1999 tv miniseries shake rattle and roll an american love story playing the role of
soul singer jackie wilson fans of the early 80s late 90s sitcom a different world may recall the
episode called dream lover in season 2 where kim trying to guess who the man was that whitley had
dreamt about the night before to whitley's dismay brought up terence's name who was it
doesn't matter it was somebody good wasn't it was he famous terence trent darby
that braided mop the early 2000s upn series girlfriends used his song what shall i do to
create a very emotional and memorable moment when joan and brock ended their enchanted love
in the season 4 episode cleverly titled between brock and a hard place his follow-up album 1989's
neither fish nor flesh was very different from his debut didn't produce any hits and was considered
a commercial disappointment in comparison to his earlier work terence described the experience of
the moment as being quote tossed off the mountain in the music industry he believed that there just
wasn't enough room for another black superstar operating in the realm of pop soul r b fusion
especially one as resistant to racial narrow casting as he was and is four years going by and
a move to los angeles would happen before anything was heard from terence again his next two projects
1993's symphony or dam and 1995's vibrator only did moderately well in the uk due to the rejection
he was experiencing from the public terence found himself at the depths of despair and contemplated
taking his own life while on tour he described having several mystical and cosmic experiences
he felt forces conspiring to tear him apart and he just decided to surrender to it after going on a
profound personal and spiritual journey terence legally changed his name to sananda maitreya
in 2001. he explained the reason for the change in a 2013 interview with the new yorker terence
trent darby was dead he referring to himself in third person watched his suffering as he died a
noble death after intense pain i meditated for a new spirit a new will a new identity even though
he's not a fan of organized religion sananda does consider himself to be a deeply spiritual person
during his metamorphosis he had to come to terms with the fact that the root of his depression and
anxiety stemmed from his childhood among his siblings he's the only one to be born out of
wedlock and from a different father that he never knew he also didn't have a very good relationship
with his stepfather he's spoken candidly about how his overnight success affected his life
referring to it as a traumatic experience sananda craved love and attention and desperately sought
validation from others specifically women to fill the void while struggling to stay grounded
in the process he's admitted that no woman had the ability to give him what he needed
2001 also marked the release of the wild card album it marked his new life as an independent
artist free from being under the thumb of sony and is dual moniker'd credited to terence trent darby
and sananda maitreya in subsequent reissues terence would be completely removed after 11 years
in l.a sananda packed up and moved to italy for love he settled in milan at the beginning of 2002
and married there the following year over the next decade he'd consistently release
projects every couple of years totaling eight studio albums as well as four live albums today
sananda and his wife continue to live in italy and share two sons he also has a daughter from a
previous relationship he hit a milestone birthday in march 2022 when he turned 60. his latest work a
double disc project titled pandora's playhouse was released in early 2021 it includes an instrumental
song called prince which honors the memory and the friendship he shared with the late funk rock icon
as well as his latest single her kiss which showcases his impeccable vocals
sounding better than ever thanks for watching please like share and comment also don't forget
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