TABITHA BOOKS
Seal.
BY-------Graham Sclater
Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel (born 19 February 1963), in London, is
better known professionally asSeal.
He was raised by a foster family inLondon and received a two-year
diploma in architecture but in the 1980s, he spent a short time singing
in local clubs and bars. In 1987, he joined Push, a British funk band,
and toured with them in Japan. While he was away, he briefly joined a
blues band before leaving them and travelling across Asia.
Soon after returning to the UK, he met producer Adamskiand Seal
wrote the lyrics and provided lead vocals to the music which became the single “Killer.” That memorable track reached number one in the UK and Seal signed to Trevor Horn’s ZTT label and in 1991 released his first self-titled album. As frequently occurs in the music business tensions and disagreements and that took place over the release of two different versions of the album, and they went their separate ways. Despite that the album went to number one and several hit singles including “Crazy,” “Future Love Paradise” and a new version of “Killer.” “Crazy” became an international hit and reached the top ten in the UK, US, and many other countries around the world catapulting him to super stardom. That year at the Brit Awards, Seal stole the show and won three categories, Best British Male, Best Make Vocal “Killer” and Best British Album.
Soon after, Seal took time out from recording his own material and spent time recording an album with other world-famous artists in support of AIDS.
It was a while before Trevor Horn and Seal decided to work together again and in 1994 the result was his second self-titled album. And again, it spawned several single releases culminating in top forty hits around the world. The third single “Kiss from a Rose” was eventually remixed and featured as the theme of the film Batman Forever. And, again in 1996 he won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and Song of the Year and the song became his best performing single in the US and reached number four in the UK.
In 1997 he left ZTT and in 1998 signed to Warner Bros Records who released his third album, “Human Being”. Although it was panned by reviewers it went on to receive gold record recognition by the RIAA just two months after its release.
In 2003, Seal released his fourth album Seal IVand although it never
achieved the sales figures of either of his first two albums, this release
brought him back into the public eye in the United States and continental
Europe. Singles from the album include "Waiting for You", "Get It Together",
and “Love’s Divine,” which was released in 2004 and was a big hit in
several European countries.
Seal has appeared in several series of The Voice Australia in 2012, 2013 and
2017 and released six albums and like Adele has continued to use his own
name as the title. He has continued to perform at charity events and to
release albums but has seemed to veer away from original songs and
recorded soul classics and covers of other material.
Seal has sold over 20 million records worldwide and his silky soulful voice is
instantly recognisable and long may he continue to write and record and no
doubt more awards await him.