it's probably safe to assume that every recording artist dreams of having a number
one hit this foursome not only achieved that but their very first one would stay at that position
for multiple weeks on end end up one of the most successful singles of all time and be named one of
the greatest love songs of the 20th century male r b group all for one comprised of jamie jones
delius kennedy alfred nevarez and tony borowiak came together quite organically they all hail
from various areas in southern california tony and alfred first met in junior high and hooked up with
jamie after meeting him at a talent show in their late teens together the trio gained some valuable
experience singing radio jingles jaime then met a music producer at the church he attended who
was actually looking for a male r b group he gave jaime a tape of a song and promised him
that if he could put together a group that could sing that song he would get them on audition for
a record deal the last piece to the puzzle was found in delius after jaime and tony met him at
a karaoke show his talent was undeniable as even arsenio hall could attest to after he won along
with another contestant in a tie the former talk show host flava of the future contest
just before joining all for one they landed that audition got signed on the spot and the rest they
say is history all for one's debut single ended up being the very song on that tape jaime received
from the producer a cover of the 1963 hit by r b soul group the times called so much in love the
song was released in december 1993 and peaked at the number five position on the billboard hot 100.
one assumption that the group quickly shot down in a 1994 interview with the la times
was that they picked the song as a tribute to the duo bearer that the times hail from
we've been singing boys to men's songs for fun and we like some other current vocal groups
but old duop is our parents music a producer called us and asked us to record the single
which was all arranged all we had to do was sing it another wrong assumption is
that their multi-ethnic makeup is part of a marketing strategy designed to appeal to various
demographics this united nations look wasn't planned we were just looking to put together
the best vocal mix alfred is in the group because he has a strong bass voice that complements ours
not because he's a mexican who can attract mexican fans the group does admit that they do see a value
in the diversity having people of different backgrounds in the group i think makes us more
interesting and more distinctive it gives people something to talk about their self-titled debut
album dropped that following spring the immediate success the group experienced was amazing
but it was about to pale in comparison to what was coming up next the second single
off the album another cover of the 1993 song by country artist john michael montgomery called i
swear would end up being all for one's biggest hit ever and put the group on the worldwide music map
the song enjoyed an 11 week run at the number one position on the hot 100 and captured the top spot
in several other countries it also won them a grammy for best pop performance by a duo or
group with vocal and to think the song wasn't even supposed to be on their album in a 2021 interview
with the hype magazine delius recalls that all the packaging for the project was already done
when the president of their label called them into his office and asked them to critique the country
version of the song then he told the group that he wanted them to go back into the studio with david
foster to record it he knew that david was going to do for them what he did for whitney houston fun
fact gerald levert was offered the song ahead of all for one but turned it down because it wasn't
an r b record the group's follow-up album came fast and furious just one year later titled and
the music speaks sticking to their winning formula of soulful ballads the track i can love you like
that also recorded by john michael montgomery and released just three months prior to all for
one's version was released as the first single it gave the group another top five hit and a grammy
nomination the album actually got two grammy noms the other belonging to the single i'm your
man the group added another top 40 hit to their collection with someday from the soundtrack to
the 1996 animated film the hunchback of notre dame for all intents and purposes all for one should
have had another hit the very next year with i turn to you another movie soundtrack song from
the 1996 live action animated sports comedy film space jam the group was excited about what the
song could do since by the time it was released the soundtrack had already sold 10 million units
off the success of the several tracks that had already dropped namely r kelly's i believe i can
fly seals fly like an eagle and monica's for you i will we did the video on it and we released it and
then atlantic records was like you know what we're probably not going to sell more than 10 million
we're going to scrap the record we were like no what are you talking about we're next he was like
yeah we've already had seal and our kelly and monica and we're not going to do anything else
all for one weren't the only people disappointed in the labels decision so was the song's writer
diane warren she was so convinced that the jimmy jam and terry lewis produced song was a hit
that she even offered to put her own money behind the release the label still wouldn't budge so she
kept her song and found someone else to sing it christina aguilera it was released three years
later as the third single of her debut album and shot all the way to number three on the hot 100.
more drama with their label atlantic records was on the horizon for the group as they wanted all
for one to be more pop like the backstreet boys and the group pushed back just wanting
to be themselves all for one was originally signed to independent label blitz records
in a joint venture with atlantic the rift between the two led to the group leaving both companies
after the release of their third album on and on in 1999. two years would go by before the
group was able to release new music 2001's a41 on their new label amc records the track
beautiful as you became a top 20 hit on the adult contemporary chart the group's next effort 2004
split personality was released in japan only and subsequently gave them the asian hits
someone who lives in your heart and i just want to be your everything for much of the 2000s all
for one spent their time touring extensively and almost exclusively in asia and europe also
in 2004 jaime became the first one in the group to release a solo studio album titled illuminate
all for one released their sixth album no regrets in 2009 the album was largely created in-house
with the group doing the writing for the album and the production work done by jamie's own production
company around this time delias became the co-founder of the esteemed catalina film festival
known as the west coast version of the cannes film festival in 2012 he released his first solo single
called my rose all for one's seventh and last album to date 2015's 20 plus served as a
celebration of the 20th anniversary of the group the following year they joined the inaugural i
love the 90s tour with fellow hit makers from the decades salt and peppa vanilla ice culio tone low
color me bad raw base kid and play and young mc also that year delias launched his online
talk show flashback tonight which interviews celebrities from the 80s 90s and early 2000s
jamie got back into the solo game again with the release of some music for christmas 2020
with christmas at home with jamie jones at the beginning of 2021 just in time for valentine's day
delias also got back to working on his solo album by dropping the single friendship after love
he followed that up towards the end of the year with numb he revealed in the interview with the
hype magazine that the songs are part of an ep he was working on during the pandemic but didn't
reveal any details about when it would be released in a 2020 interview with you know igotsoul.com
jamie was asked if it bothered him that the group isn't thought of in the conversation
of best r b groups of the 90s his answer was one heard too many times to count i think it's because
we were always a little more pop r b instead of being straight up r b it's so funny because when
we started our first album it was an r b record i swear literally got added on the last minute
it was black radio that started our career with so much in love when i swear came out
that went super pop we faced this weird limbo where we weren't black enough for r b
folks but we weren't white enough for the pop folks over the years all the members have been
asked how they've managed to never break up and keep going their answers are always the same
because they genuinely love each other and their passion for performing remains strong
thanks for watching please like share and comment also don't forget to subscribe and
turn on your notifications so you won't miss any future videos see you next time