Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, known simply as Seal, is a British-Nigerian singer and an iconic musician with a distinctive soulful voice whose music has influenced the world. Born on 19 February 1963 to a Yoruba mother and an Afro-Brazilian father, he was raised by a foster family in Westminster, London.
Seal has won multiple awards throughout his career, including three Brit Awards, four Grammy Awards, and an MTV Video Music Award. He has sold over 20 million records worldwide, including hit songs such as “Crazy,” “Killer,” and “Kiss from a Rose.”
As a songwriter, Seal has received two Ivor Novello Awards for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Seal started his music career in the 1980s singing in local clubs and bars in London. In 1987, he joined a British funk band called Push and toured with them in Japan. Afterward, he joined a blues band in Thailand before embarking on a solo journey throughout India. He returned to England and met producer Adamski, providing lyrics and vocals on Adamski’s single “Killer.” The song eventually reached number one in the UK.
Seal subsequently signed to ZTT Records and released his self-titled debut album in 1991, produced by Trevor Horn. Two versions of the album are in circulation: the original “premix” version and a more common version with an updated mix.
He was positively received by critics, and his singles “Crazy,” “Future Love Paradise,” and his own rendition of “Killer” performed well on the charts. In particular, “Crazy” became an international hit in 1991, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart and number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
Seal won three categories at the 1992 Brit Awards, making him the first artist to win the event’s hat-trick of wins in the history of the event. In 1992, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization’s compilation CD Red Hot + Dance, contributing an exclusive track “Crazy (If I Was Trev Mix).” The album raised money and awareness in support of the AIDS epidemic by donating all proceeds to AIDS charities.
Seal’s second album, also self-titled, was released in 1994. The album featured the singles “Prayer for the Dying” and “Newborn Friend,” and later received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. “Kiss from a Rose” won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year in 1996, becoming Seal’s best-performing single on the US market. In 1998, Seal released Human Being, which received gold record certification by the RIAA just two months after its release date. The album provided three singles, “Human Beings,” “Latest Craze,” and “Lost My Faith.”
In the 2000s, he continued his success with the album Seal IV, released in 2003, which included the hit singles “Love’s Divine” and “Get It Together.”
He also performed a duet with French singer Mylène Farmer on the song “Les Mots,” which topped the French charts for several weeks. Seal’s album System was released in 2007 and included the hit single “Amazing.” He also performed “A Change Is Gonna Come” with David Foster at a 2008 concert in Abu Dhabi, which was attended by Oprah Winfrey.
Seal has continued to produce music in the 2010s, including the albums Commitment, Soul 2, and Standards. In 2012 and 2013, he was a coach on The Voice Australia, and he returned to Australia to work as a coach in 2017.
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Joseph Omoniyi
