The TRAGIC Truth About R&B Group LeVert

oh baby, whatever you want, it's fine r b the

levert

trio consisted of brothers gerald and sean

levert

and mark gordon, the cleveland-based

group

heated up the charts in the '80s and '90s with memorable songs like casanova, The charisma of Gerald's voice and stage presence solidified Levert's position as one of the most talented and entertaining

group

s in the industry after selling millions of records, Levert disbanded and each member of the group went on to work on projects solo band they planned to reunite, but back-to-back tragedies interrupted their plans. Brothers Gerald and Sean Levert were Born into music royalty as the sons of OJ frontman Eddie Levert, they grew up in Ohio with their parents and Eddie's eldest son, Eddie Jr, from a previous relationship.

Gerald and Sean went on tour with their father whenever they had a break from school and life. on the road was crazy, especially for his father, Eddie, Eddie told Ebony magazine that he had someone on the road to watch the kids and put them to bed every night, but the person he hired always ended up leaving them alone because to this, Gerald and Sean. We were exposed to things no child should ever witness. Eddie said they saw me do some things. They saw me partying despite everything. Gerald told The Times that while he was on tour with his father he realized he wanted to become a singer when he was a teenager.

The Levert boys joined forces with their friend Mark Gordon, who was attending the same church after the service. They would go home and write songs. Mark finally moved into his house in 1981. They formed the group. Levert Gerald admitted that Sean didn't really want to be in music. industry, but gerald attracted him only a few years after forming his group, his parents separated and eddie moved out of the family home in the book written by eddie and gerald titled I got your back, gerald said that his mother was naive and did not I understood. the temptation his father faced while they were away, fortunately, Eddie was still in his life as a father figure when the three children told him of their dreams of becoming artists.

Eddie was hesitant and told npr that his time in the industry was filled with pain and that he didn't want his children to go through the same thing despite warning them about the dangers of celebrity life. Eddie said Gerald was desperate to become on one star Eddie finally gave up and said, "Okay, man, I'll help you do this." Gerald threw himself into making music and became a complete workaholic, but even with Eddie and the OJs in his corner, Levert didn't rely on them to blow up his career, instead they endured many long days and sleepless nights. in the Levert family basement writing songs, recording and practicing his dance moves that were rejected by all the major labels because they sounded too similar to the OJs.

Gerald told the Times that they eventually signed to an independent label and released their debut album, I Get Hot, in 1985. The album didn't chart, but once they performed their single "I'm Still on Soul Train" they called. everyone's attention, they left their independent label behind and signed with Atlantic Records. Sean said they were still very young and unprepared for what awaited them. They spent a lot of time with older people. people in the industry and they got caught up in mature situations, they went straight into the studio and started recording their second album and things got a little tense.

Sean said that Gerald was constantly angry with him because they didn't share the same work ethic. Sean added. It all goes back to the fact that at that time making music wasn't something I was ready to do. Sean said he would leave the studio to party and became addicted to substances. He also began having unprotected intimacy with numerous partners he could. they finished their 1986 album titled Bloodline and the album spawned the group's first big pop pop pop hit, in my opinion the album peaked at number eight on Billboard's Top Soul Albums chart and was eventually certified gold in 1987.

Gerald and Mark launched travel and songwriting productions. and a music production company and things were still going well for Levert, plus his third album, The Big Throwdown, was released in 1987 and included the popular song Casanova. They received their first Grammy nomination and took home several Soul Train awards that were even announced by the LA Times. Levert is doing better than OJS, which hasn't had a single hit since Used to Be My Girl in 1978. With more success came more pressure and 21-year-old Gerald was already reaching his breaking point during a 1987 interview with The Times The. The journalist noticed that Gerald was half awake and desperately needed sleep.

Gerald told the journalist that someone please save me from all these problems. Being known is a pain. I would rather be unknown. Gerald told the journalist that his father had warned him about fame. But Gerald didn't think he was going to be that bad, he ended the interview by asking the reporter are you sure you don't want to change jobs with me? In his co-authored book, Gerald revealed that his entire family depended on him and Eddie. Financially and emotionally, Gerald said all he wanted was for someone to ask how he was doing and how his health was, instead of just reaching out when they needed something.

The album was just released in 1988 and was certified gold to keep the momentum going. He released his fifth robodope-style album in 1990, the album produced the number one single, Baby I'm Ready, it was at this point that Gerald decided to test the waters as a solo artist. She released her debut album, Private Line, in 1991, which included a duet with his father, titled Baby Hold on to Me. Gerald re-teamed with Levert in 1993 for their sixth proper album, and then came a brief breakup. Mark moved to Los Angeles and began writing and producing for other artists, while Shawn released a solo album in 1995 called On the Other Side, the album failing to match the commercial success of Levert and Gerald.

His cousin told cleveland.com. Sean was always trying to make a name for himself, but he would fall short compared to Eddie and Gerald. Gerald released the album's beat and his father. and son, which he recorded with his father, gerald also released the album love and consequences and teamed up with keith swett and johnny gill in 1997 to form r b super group. lsg lever reunited and released The Whole Stage in 1997, but the group was beginning to implode in In the book co-authored by Gerald and Eddie, it was revealed that Gerald and Mark were experiencing creative differences and the label was pressuring Gerald to was a solo artist, so Levert disbanded for seven years, they were able to patch things up and in 2004 they began working on ideas for their eighth album.

It was during this time that Gerald's life was finally coming full circle. He was the father of three children. three different women and their two oldest children were the same age in their co-authored book gerald said he was ready to settle down have more children and get married in november 2006 eddie and gerald traveled to south africa to perform eddie told ap news that while he was There Gerald was bitten by something on his back and had to seek medical attention once they returned to the US. Gerald started breathing heavily. He went to the doctor and was told everything was fine.

Gerald returned home and called his father. Eddie said Gerald was angry about something a family member had done. Eddie told AP News that he didn't like talking to Gerald when he was ranting and raving. so before hanging up the phone, gerald told eddie to call him back, eddie told AP News that he wanted to give gerald a couple of days to calm down, so he didn't bother calling him back that night, Eddie waited a couple of days and the next time his phone rang on November 10, 2006, the person on the other end of the line told him that Gerald had been found unconscious in his bed and was being rushed to the hospital.

The next phone call gave him the terrible news that Gerald had died at the age of 40. In the co-authored book, Eddie said that he felt terrible because his son died without having a woman by his side who he loved. Eddie also regretted not calling Gerald as he had promised. He told AP News. He prayed that I would have the opportunity to see him again and see that big smile. According to the Washington Post, there were several pain pills and a mixture of anxiety medications in Gerald's system. It was also revealed that Gerald had pneumonia at the time of his death. and his death was ruled an accidental overdose months after his untimely passing his album In My Songs was released the album won a Grammy Award and his brother Sean and his mother Martha were there to accept the honor on behalf of Gerald Mark and Sean decided continue Under the name Levert II they recruited a new member called Black Rose, but before they could get things going, Sean was sentenced to one year and 10 months behind bars for failing to pay nearly €90,000 in child support for three of their six children, according to cleveland.com Sean arrived at the county jail in March 2008 with a bottle of Xanax to treat his anxiety.

The guards took away his medication upon his arrival. A fellow inmate said Sean was in great spirits, but within a few hours he began sweating and hallucinating. He begged for his medication, but the guards refused to give him anything. Ultimately, Sean was strapped to a restraint chair and when he stopped breathing he was transported to a hospital where he died at the age of 39. Sean's cause of death was listed as complications from an inflammatory lung disease high blood pressure heart disease diabetes and xanax withdrawal county prosecutors ruled there was no criminal wrongdoing but his wife sued for wrongful death and was awarded $4 million Eddie still deals with the pain of losing his children, he told Ebony magazine, and sometimes wonders if he did something wrong as a father and maybe he shouldn't have taken them on tour with him when they were younger.

Mark and Black Rose honored the group's deceased members on the 2009 album titled Dedication and added a third member. Named after Paris Smith and continued making music as Lever II, however, it now appears that Harris is a member of the group RMB Still in 2020 Ohio passed Sean's Law named after the late singer The law requires the Ohio prison system to have protocols in place when admitting inmates who are at risk of substance withdrawal, the music world continues to mourn the talented Levert brothers and when their mother Martha passed away in January 2020, everyone's hearts broke even more because their Levert family will be known as one of the most important r b groups for many generations.

Come and even though Sean and Gerald have transitioned, their music and voices will live on forever.