Background
Jeremiah Jermaine Paul was born on July 26, 1978, in Harriman, New York, and was raised in Spring Valley, New New York
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Jermaine Paul
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Prior to his stint, he was co-nominated at the 48th Grammy Awards for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, in a collaborative work with Alicia Keys as the featured artist. He is the fifth of 10 children. "While in Spring Valley, his dad made sure the kids stayed out of trouble and away from drugs by turning their living room into a musical performance area," SUCCESS magazine wrote.
"lieutenant was loaded with instruments—piano, drums and guitars—and some of the kids, including Jermaine, formed a group to perform gospel songs in local churches." By the time he was 12 years old, he began to acquire a reputation for singing at local churches and talent shows with his family.
Jermaine joined numerous adult choirs. There, he was introduced to the guitar.
With some knowledge of the guitar, and the yearning to go back to New York, he wrote his first song. At the age of 14, he moved up-state to Harriman, New York (Hudson Valley).
There he attended Monroe-Woodbury High School and was introduced to rock and jazz.
While taking guitar lessons he was selected to join the all-state, all-county chorus, and the classically trained high school voice ensemble. At 15, Paul joined a quartet group named 1Accord signing to basketball star Shaquille O"Neal"s label, T.W.Is.M Records. He began writing and producing songs of his own.
Paul auditioned for the first season of American Idol but did not receive any callbacks from the producers.
He began recording backing vocals for artists such as Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Joss Stone, Blackstreet and Jaguar Wright. Very notably he was nominated for a Grammy for the category "Best Rhythm & Blues Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals" for "If This World Were Mine" by Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul.
The track was from the J Records album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross. In 2012, he auditioned for the second season of singing "Complicated" from Avril Lavigne.
Two of the four judges turned their chairs on (Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green) with Paul opting to be on Team Blake.
Performances on
His winning song, a cover of "I Believe I Can Fly" made it up to #83 on the United States Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up, "Soul Manitoba", with his coach Blake Shelton did not break the Hot 100, reaching just #108. His single "I Believe in This Life" reportedly taken from his forthcoming album premiered on on November 8, 2012.
