music was something that he always loved and the decision to pursue a professional
career in it was a no-brainer he also just happened to be incredibly talented at it too
especially songwriting however the direction that the r b genre specifically
ended up going in caused him to rethink everything and decide to hang it up indefinitely
let's find out what happened to r b singer joe joe louis thomas professionally known as simply joe
was born in columbus georgia when he was a toddler his family consisting of his evangelical minister
parents and four other siblings packed up and moved to opelika alabama the environment he grew
up in was filled with gospel music he was also an active member of the church singing in the choir
and playing guitar after graduating high school in 1990 he relocated to new jersey and continued to
sing and write music while working various odd jobs eventually he crossed paths with producer
vincent herbert he would go on to help joe record a demo tape that got the attention of polygram
mercury records the label who would sign joe to his first deal the recording deal was a bit of a
surprise to joe since he recorded the demo as a way to showcase his writing ability not singing
ability i just wanted to do music i just wanted to be around music i was more known as a writer
than a singer my own manager at the time didn't know i sang so it was on the low not purposely
but i wasn't trying to be extra hey i can sing too check me out i wasn't pushy or nothing like that
it was just that i was singing on the demos i was working on so people got to hear me sing without
me purposely trying to sing his debut album titled everything was released in 1993. it spawned three
singles including i'm in love which became a top 10 hit on the r b chart after releasing only one
project with them joe left polygram and signed with jive records the move would prove to be
instrumental in taking his career to new hives his next album titled all that i am released in 1997
would really get people talking the year before joe would lend the song all the things your man
won't do to the soundtrack for the crime comedy parody film don't be a menace to south central
while drinking your juice in the hood it ended up climbing all the way to number 11 on the billboard
hot 100. as a result it was later featured on his sophomore album serving as the lead track baby
the album eventually went platinum also powered by another hit single the follow-up don't want to
be a player this track also got a major boost by being featured on the soundtrack from the comedy
film booty call as well as being interpolated on the track for rapper big pun song still not a
player joe was an extremely busy man throughout the 90s not only was he doing his own projects
but he was also a highly sought after songwriter and producer for many other artists after all
that's where he started he wrote for the likes of escape tina turner babyface and swv he can even
be heard doing background work as on r b singer brandy's track angel in disguise joe would also
get the chance to not only work with pop diva mariah carey but get another chart-topping hit
out of it she asked him to sing on the song thank god i found you the second single off
of her album rainbow it reached number one on the hot 100 and was later certified gold
in april 2000 joe released his third album my name is joe the project produced three singles
two of which i wanna know and stutter crack the top five at the number four and number
one positions respectively not surprisingly the album would become a major hit worldwide
going platinum in canada and britain as well as triple platinum in the u.s so far it is the
best-selling album of his career the following year the single i want to know as well as the
album received grammy award nominations in the best small r b vocal performance
and best r b album categories joe's fourth album better days was released the following year it was
significantly less successful than my name is joe however it did reach gold status and received two
more grammy nominations joe kept the momentum going with his fifth effort titled and then
two years later he sought the assistance of some heavy hitters in the game to work with him
including production duos carvin and ivan dre and vidal the underdogs and fellow r b singer
songwriter and labelmate r kelly the lead single called more and more was actually written by the
self-proclaimed king of r b himself and became a top 20 hit then for whatever reason things went
downhill between joe and robert joe would later claim in a 2014 interview with vlad tv that he
received information from trusted sources that our kelly got in touch with numerous radio stations
and told them to stop playing joe's music or he wouldn't participate in any of their events
joe said he never confirmed how true the rumor was but he couldn't imagine that anything like
that could really happen because of the relationships he built with people and that
one man could never have that kind of power over him he chalked up the behavior to jealousy he also
said that he's never had any altercations with our kelly and continues to have respect for his talent
now seemed as good a time as any to take a break from music which joe did however he
did involve himself in other business ventures such as real estate an upscale clothing line and
his own brand of tequila joe's sixth album titled ain't nothing like me released in april 2007 would
mark his final project with jive records after his departure joe continued to release most of
his projects independently four out of the next five albums that joe released would make it into
the top 10 on the billboard 200 albums chart he would fall out of that category but remain
in the top 20 with his last two projects bridges in 2014 and my name is joe thomas in 2016. on the
r b charts however his albums have consistently remained in the top five in a november 2016
interview with you know igotsoul.com joe was asked if his my name is joe thomas album would be
his last since there is a reference about that on one of the tracks he replied i love the music 100
but also i want everybody else to love the music as well i guess it comes down to if you're not as
successful as sales and you look at the numbers which can really be a huge huge impact on whether
you want to continue or not in august 2019 joe's fans raised their voices in displeasure
when after tuning in to the first episode of the sixth and final season of popular tv show power
in which joe sings the theme song they found out it was replaced with one sung by r b singer
trey songz there was an overwhelming number of comments saying that joe's voice matters and
that they love the original version better the show creator and rapper 50 cent posted
a video on instagram to explain that trey did it as a favor to him he was also visibly
annoyed and confused by the backlash since he claimed people hadn't bought a joe cd in years
however he did say that he would put the original version back if fans continue to complain on
february 13 2020 actor and singer tyrese made a surprise announcement on his instagram that he
and joe would be creating a joint ep together joe however didn't make any mention of it on his own
platform and as of the making of this video there hasn't been any further news about it
what more do you want from me at the end of 2020 fans got a special treat to finally hear
joe on an unreleased gospel tribe the song called you the man was supposed to
be included on a gospel album diddy and his bad boy records label was slated to release in 2001
but that never happened throughout 2019 joe continued performing stateside as well
as internationally the last post on his instagram is from december of that year
so it appears that he's been laying low since the worldwide pandemic began hopefully as things
begin to return to normal fans will be able to experience joe and his timeless r b classics live
and in living color once again thanks for watching please like share and comment also don't forget to
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