Alexander O’Neal

Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953) is an American R&B soul singer, songwriter and arranger who rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven top 40 singles on the US R&B chart, three of which also reached the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. However, he enjoyed more mainstream success in the United Kingdom, achieving fourteen top 40 singles on the UK singles chart between 1985 and 1996, along with three top ten albums on the UK Albums Chart. The late 1980s marked the peak of O'Neal's career, scoring several appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 with singles including "Fake", "Criticize" and "Never Knew Love Like This". Other commercially successful singles released during this period include "The Lovers" and "(What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me". In 1991, he released "All True Man" as the lead single from his fourth solo album of the same name. The album was a major commercial success in the United Kingdom, peaking at number two, however, in the United States fared less favourably following a peak position of forty-nine on the Billboard 200. In 1993, he released his first album without production input from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – Love Makes No Sense. The lead single from the album missed the Billboard Hot 100 charts, but reached the top forty in the United Kingdom. According to Jimmy Jam, around 1980–1981, O'Neal (along with fellow members of the band Flyte Tyme) met with Prince and Morris Day at Perkins restaurant in Minneapolis to discuss forming a band that would be called The Time that would be signed to Prince under the Warner Bros. label. Following a disagreement with Prince, O'Neal was replaced as lead singer by Morris Day. In 2011 the TV One series Unsung profiled O'Neal's rise to fame, along with the story of Cherrelle. In 2014, O'Neal signed a new management deal with Howard Perl Management (Beverly Hills), which awarded him extensive tours and a cast member on Celebrity Big Brother.