Glenn Lewis (born Glenn Ricketts on March 13, 1975) is a Canadian
R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter. Originally planning to
pursue a career in animation as a teenager, Lewis instead decided
to focus on music. His father was a member of the musical group
Crack of Dawn. Lewis has cited Stevie Wonder as his biggest inspiration,
and Lewis has often been compared to him because of the similarities
in their tones.
Lewis was born in Toronto to a Trinidadian mother, and a Jamaican
father. From the ages of 8 to 14, he also lived in Trinidad before
moving back to Toronto. After moving back to the city, he attended
high school at Eastern Commerce Collegiate, where he won a talent
contest by covering Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I
Love You". After high school, Lewis began recording demos and
performing at nightclubs, eventually becoming a respected act in
the city. He parlayed this success into the release of his first
single, "The Thing to Do" in 1997 on Beat Factory/BMG Music
Canada. The song earned him a Juno Award nomination for Best R&B/Soul
Recording. His second single, "Bout Your Love", was released
in 1998 and garnered a second consecutive Juno nomination.
This exposure eventually landed him a deal with Epic Records. Lewis'
debut album, World Outside My Window, was released on March 19, 2002.
Fueled by the hit single "Don't You Forget It", the album
peaked at #4 on the Billboard charts. The single earned him a Juno
for Best R&B/Soul Recording. He promoted the album by touring
with R&B singers Alicia Keys and Tweet, among others.
In 2002, Lewis recorded a cover version of "Superstition" for
the tribute album, Conception: An Interpretation of Stevie Wonder's
Songs. He also makes a brief appearance in the 2002 film Maid in
Manhattan starring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes. He contributed
the song "Fall Again" to the film's soundtrack. "Fall
Again" was originally written by Walter Afanasieff and Robin
Thicke for Michael Jackson's Invincible album to compose, but did
not make it on the track list. However, a demo of the song by Michael
Jackson was later released on the Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection
CD set. A concert DVD, Glenn Lewis Live, was released in 2002.
Lewis prepared his second album, Back for More for release in 2003.
The first single, also titled "Back for More", and featuring
rapper Kardinal Offishall, was released to radio and a video began
to air. Inexplicably, the album was pushed back, first to later in
the year, then to 2004; it remains unreleased. In the meantime, Lewis
netted a Grammy nomination for his contribution to Stanley Clarke's "Where
Is the Love", a duet also featuring Amel Larrieux.
Lewis left Epic Records in 2005 and in 2006, he signed with Underdog
Entertainment. The album project recorded with The Underdogs entitled, "Remember
Me" was slated for release in 2007, but was never released.
Shortly there after, Lewis parted ways with The Underdogs and in
2009, Lewis reconnected with Andre Harris and Vidal Davis "Dre & Vidal",
the producers of his first album, "World Outside My Window" and
is currently recording a new album slated for release in Spring 2011.
His new single "Good One" was not scheduled for release
until January 2011, however a popular soul music website leaked the
song on December 14 leading Lewis to officially release the song
the following week.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
World Outside My Window (2002)
[edit] Singles
Year Single Chart positions[1] Album
U.S. U.S. R&B
1997 "The Thing to Do" — — GROOVEssentials
Volume One
1998 "Bout Your Love" — — Rudimental 2k
2001 "Don't You Forget It" 30 10 World Outside My Window
2002 "It's Not Fair" — 90
2003 "Back for More" (feat. Kardinal Offishall) — 76
single only
2010 "Good One"