Ralph Tresvant
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| Ralph Tresvant | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ralph Edward Tresvant Jr. |
| Born | May 16, 1968 |
| Origin | Roxbury, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres | R&B, New Jack Swing |
| Occupations | Singer, actor, producer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Xzault Media Group MCA Records Geffen Records Interscope Records |
| Associated acts | New Edition, Heads of State |
| Website | http://www.ralphtresvant.com |
Ralph Tresvant (
/trəˈvɑːnt/; born Ralph Edward Tresvant, Jr. on May 16, 1968) is an American tenor singer, best known as one of the lead singers in New Edition.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] New Edition
Tresvant sang lead on many of the New Edition lead singles including "Candy Girl", "Cool It Now" and "If It Isn't Love". When New Edition was formed as the group, Tresvant was chosen as the leading frontman, which caused conflict with group member Bobby Brown (who was since voted out of the group in the early years).
[edit] Solo career
Tresvant left New Edition in 1989, shortly before the rest of the group disbanded by the time it was a quartet. Despite the success of groupmates Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe, and Johnny Gill, Tresvant was cautious about his own solo career. Signing to MCA Records, Tresvant let his apprehension be known in several interviews.
Nevertheless, well-known producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were confident in his abilities after having worked with him on the album Heartbreak. They wrote the song "Sensitivity" for him which hit #1 on the R&B charts, #4 on the Hot 100 and it went gold. His self-titled album released shortly after in 1990 and went platinum as well, topping the R&B charts. The album scored two more hits with "Stone Cold Gentleman" reaching #3 on the R&B charts and "Do What I Gotta Do" which reached #2.
Tresvant appeared in the movie House Party 2 in 1991, performing the song 'Yo Baby Yo' from the House Party 2 Movie Soundtrack. The following year, he scored his fourth and final solo top 3 R&B hit to date, "Money Can't Buy You Love", from the Mo' Money soundtrack. In 1993, he released his second album, It's Goin' Down. The album featured greater involvement from Tresvant as he produced many of the tracks himself. However, the album failed to perform as well as the debut.
In 1996, he reunited with the other members of New Edition for the release of Home Again which became a success. The album was released on September 10, 1996 and debuted at #1 on both the Billboard Pop and R&B Charts.
In October 2004 "Sensitivity" appeared in popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on R&B/Soul radio station CSR 103.9.
Ralph's third solo album, Rizz-Wa-Faire, was released March 7, 2006. The first single and video from the album was "My Homegirl".
[edit] Heads of State
As of September 27, 2008, he began touring with Bobby Brown and Johnny Gill in a new group named Heads of State.
[edit] Personal life
On September 18, 2004 he married Amber Serrano. They live in Acworth, Georgia.[citation needed] He is currently signed to Geffen Records and Interscope Records.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] |
US R&B [1] |
CAN [2] |
NZ [3] |
UK [4] |
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| 1990 | Ralph Tresvant
|
17 | 1 | 42 | 22 | 37 | |||
| 1994 | It's Goin' Down
|
131 | 24 | — | — | ||||
| 2006 | Rizz-Wa-Faire
|
— | 88 | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [6] |
US R&B [6] |
US Dance [6] |
CAN [7] |
CAN Dance [8] |
NZ [9] |
UK [4] |
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| 1990 | "Sensitivity" | 4 | 1 | 19 | 21 | 8 | 6 | 18 | Ralph Tresvant | |
| 1991 | "Stone Cold Gentleman" | 34 | 3 | 28 | — | — | 25 | 78 | ||
| "Do What I Gotta Do" | — | 2 | 26 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Rated R" | — | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Yo Baby Yo" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | House Party 2 (soundtrack) | ||
| 1992 | "Money Can't Buy You Love" | 54 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | Mo' Money (soundtrack) | |
| 1993 | "Who's the Mack" | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | It's Goin' Down | |
| 1994 | "When I Need Somebody" | — | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006 | "My Homegirl" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Rizz-Wa-Faire | |
| 2009 | "It Must Be You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album song | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||
[edit] Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist | US | US AC | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | "Voices That Care" | Various | 11 | 6 | single only |
| 1992 | "The Best Things in Life Are Free" | Luther Vandross featuring Janet Jackson, BBD and Ralph Tresvant | 10 | — | Mo' Money |
[edit] Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | "Voices That Care"(Various) | David S. Jackson |
[edit] Filmography
- 1985: Krush Groove as New Edition
- 2004: Barbershop Blues Jake
- 2006 Triple Cross Sonny
- 2008 Behind RizzWaFaire
- 2009: Mama, I Want to Sing!
[edit] References
- ^ a b "allmusic ((( Ralph Tresvant > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5692. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada: Top Albums/CDs". RPM (magazine). http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.1454&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=us04b5gssorilrsb3dkt475fa2. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/search.asp?cat=a&search=ralph+tresvant. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ a b "Chart Stats - Ralph Tresvant". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=6146. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - July 04, 2010: Ralph Tresvant certified albums". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Ralph%20Tresvant&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ a b c "allmusic ((( Ralph Tresvant > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p5692. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada: Top Singles". RPM (magazine). http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=g3m99eg7pkq0tos38c2sv57ak1&q1=Ralph+Tresvant&q2=Top+Singles&interval=20. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada: Dance/Urban". RPM (magazine). http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=nstcbep59d3irae60uetm06md4&q1=Ralph+Tresvant&q2=Dance%2FUrban&interval=20. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "charts.org.nz - New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/search.asp?cat=s&search=ralph+tresvant. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - July 04, 2010: Ralph Tresvant certified singles". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Ralph%20Tresvant&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
[edit] External links
- Ralph Tresvant Official Site
- Official Myspace Page
- Official Twitter Page
- R&B Haven
- Ralph Tresvant 2006 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment
- Singersroom
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