Biography
Eddie Chacon crafts intimate, soul-infused R&B that pairs economical lyrics with a resonant vocal style, incorporating traces of spiritual and Brazilian jazz alongside disco, dub, and further influences. The singer-songwriter first gained notice in 1992 as half of Charles & Eddie, whose worldwide hit “Would I Lie to You?” emerged near the close of the new jack swing era with a contemporary take on 1960s-style pop-soul. Though that track remains his best-known work, Chacon’s path stretches back into the prior decade and encompasses co-writing credits over time for artists as varied as Chico DeBarge, Feargal Sharkey, Eternal, and multiple Scandinavian pop acts. Following a long hiatus from recording, he performed and released material in the late 2000s and early 2010s alongside his wife Sissy Sainte-Marie in the duo the Polyamorous Affair. He resurfaced at the start of the 2020s with the solo album Pleasure, Joy and Happiness, a compact collection of understated and personal ballads shaped with John Carroll Kirby; originally conceived as his last project, its strong reception prompted him to continue, yielding a further Kirby collaboration on Sundown (2023) and the Nick Hakim-produced Lay Low (2025).
Born in Oakland, Chacon spent his formative years in Castro Valley, California. In the mid-1970s, shortly before entering his teens, he started a hard-rocking garage outfit called Fly by Night—later Fry by Night after a flyer’s typo was embraced—with friends Cliff Burton and Mike Bordin, both of whom would later achieve recognition in Metallica and Faith No More. The next decade brought a songwriting agreement with CBS. Between 1987 and 1989 his progress proved uneven: an updated version of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” appeared on Columbia, yet a follow-up album recorded for the major label stayed unreleased.
Adopting the alias Edward Anthony Luis, Chacon then joined Skyyline, a subsidiary of Luther Campbell’s Skyywalker Records prior to its renaming as Luke Records. The singles “Good for You” and “Truly” reached the public, but the parent album Sugaree—entirely written, arranged, and produced by Chacon—received only promotional copies after Campbell’s mainstream breakthrough with 2 Live Crew shifted priorities. In the same period he supplied songs for Chico DeBarge (“Love Addiction”), Feargal Sharkey (“Out of My System”), and Tyren Perry (“You Are My Everything”).
A development arrangement with Capitol, supported by demos made with the Dust Brothers, allowed Chacon to regain momentum in the early 1990s. While riding the New York City subway he encountered Philadelphia native Charles Pettigrew, who was signed to the same label through A&R executive Josh Deutsch; the two formed an immediate connection and became a duo. Their debut single as Charles & Eddie, “Would I Lie to You?,” entered the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1992 and later reached number 13, topping official charts in several countries including the U.K. and Germany. Charles & Eddie notched three more U.K. Top 40 entries, among them “N.Y.C. (Can You Believe This City?),” which chronicled their subway encounter. They ultimately issued two albums, Duophonic and Chocolate Milk, the latter featuring “Wounded Bird,” prominently used in the film True Romance. After Deutsch left Capitol, tensions with the label led to the end of their contract and the pair’s decision to pursue separate paths.
During the Charles & Eddie years Chacon took on additional songwriting and session duties, co-writing Eternal’s “Save Our Love,” a number 12 hit in the U.K. in 1994. Danish producer Poul Bruun enlisted him around the same time for Hanne Boel’s single “All It Takes,” and further sessions with Bruun across Scandinavia and at Chacon’s Los Angeles home studio extended well into the 2000s. Although Chacon and Pettigrew stayed in touch and exchanged demos, no new material emerged before Pettigrew’s death from cancer in 2001. Chacon soon stepped away from music, turning instead to photography that evolved into a career as a creative director.
In 2008, alongside his wife and creative partner, stylist Sissy Sainte-Marie, Chacon reentered music as half of the club-oriented Polyamorous Affair, which released three albums before disbanding early the following decade. The urge to record returned, leading to the uptempo single “Rumors or Lies?” in 2019. That year he also connected with keyboardist, composer, and producer John Carroll Kirby—known for work with Norah Jones, Blood Orange, and Solange—and together they made Pleasure, Joy and Happiness. Chacon issued the album independently in July 2020 and was surprised by its warm critical response, which generated international performance opportunities.
Rather than retire as originally intended, he pressed ahead. Throughout the remainder of 2020 and into 2021, tracks from Pleasure, Joy and Happiness received remixes from Laraaji, Cola Boyy, Nick Hakim, and Seahawks. Chacon joined Nailah Hunter as a featured collaborator on Kirby’s single “High,” and the pair contributed a version of “Tonight” to the David Bowie tribute album Modern Love. Chacon and Kirby captured the follow-up to Pleasure, Joy and Happiness during a trip to Ibiza and further work at their Los Angeles base. Initial singles surfaced in the second half of 2022, and the full album Sundown appeared in March 2023. Promotional travel brought him back to the BBC set of Later... With Jools Holland nearly thirty years after he and Pettigrew had performed there. In May 2024 Chacon co-wrote and fronted PREP’s “Call It,” then returned five months later with “Empire,” the lead single from his next Stones Throw album; the harder-grooving track included Kirby’s keyboards, Hakim’s production, and additional writing from drummer Abe Rounds and saxophonist Jesse Scheinin. The Hakim-produced parent album Lay Low arrived in January 2025.
Born in Oakland, Chacon spent his formative years in Castro Valley, California. In the mid-1970s, shortly before entering his teens, he started a hard-rocking garage outfit called Fly by Night—later Fry by Night after a flyer’s typo was embraced—with friends Cliff Burton and Mike Bordin, both of whom would later achieve recognition in Metallica and Faith No More. The next decade brought a songwriting agreement with CBS. Between 1987 and 1989 his progress proved uneven: an updated version of the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” appeared on Columbia, yet a follow-up album recorded for the major label stayed unreleased.
Adopting the alias Edward Anthony Luis, Chacon then joined Skyyline, a subsidiary of Luther Campbell’s Skyywalker Records prior to its renaming as Luke Records. The singles “Good for You” and “Truly” reached the public, but the parent album Sugaree—entirely written, arranged, and produced by Chacon—received only promotional copies after Campbell’s mainstream breakthrough with 2 Live Crew shifted priorities. In the same period he supplied songs for Chico DeBarge (“Love Addiction”), Feargal Sharkey (“Out of My System”), and Tyren Perry (“You Are My Everything”).
A development arrangement with Capitol, supported by demos made with the Dust Brothers, allowed Chacon to regain momentum in the early 1990s. While riding the New York City subway he encountered Philadelphia native Charles Pettigrew, who was signed to the same label through A&R executive Josh Deutsch; the two formed an immediate connection and became a duo. Their debut single as Charles & Eddie, “Would I Lie to You?,” entered the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1992 and later reached number 13, topping official charts in several countries including the U.K. and Germany. Charles & Eddie notched three more U.K. Top 40 entries, among them “N.Y.C. (Can You Believe This City?),” which chronicled their subway encounter. They ultimately issued two albums, Duophonic and Chocolate Milk, the latter featuring “Wounded Bird,” prominently used in the film True Romance. After Deutsch left Capitol, tensions with the label led to the end of their contract and the pair’s decision to pursue separate paths.
During the Charles & Eddie years Chacon took on additional songwriting and session duties, co-writing Eternal’s “Save Our Love,” a number 12 hit in the U.K. in 1994. Danish producer Poul Bruun enlisted him around the same time for Hanne Boel’s single “All It Takes,” and further sessions with Bruun across Scandinavia and at Chacon’s Los Angeles home studio extended well into the 2000s. Although Chacon and Pettigrew stayed in touch and exchanged demos, no new material emerged before Pettigrew’s death from cancer in 2001. Chacon soon stepped away from music, turning instead to photography that evolved into a career as a creative director.
In 2008, alongside his wife and creative partner, stylist Sissy Sainte-Marie, Chacon reentered music as half of the club-oriented Polyamorous Affair, which released three albums before disbanding early the following decade. The urge to record returned, leading to the uptempo single “Rumors or Lies?” in 2019. That year he also connected with keyboardist, composer, and producer John Carroll Kirby—known for work with Norah Jones, Blood Orange, and Solange—and together they made Pleasure, Joy and Happiness. Chacon issued the album independently in July 2020 and was surprised by its warm critical response, which generated international performance opportunities.
Rather than retire as originally intended, he pressed ahead. Throughout the remainder of 2020 and into 2021, tracks from Pleasure, Joy and Happiness received remixes from Laraaji, Cola Boyy, Nick Hakim, and Seahawks. Chacon joined Nailah Hunter as a featured collaborator on Kirby’s single “High,” and the pair contributed a version of “Tonight” to the David Bowie tribute album Modern Love. Chacon and Kirby captured the follow-up to Pleasure, Joy and Happiness during a trip to Ibiza and further work at their Los Angeles base. Initial singles surfaced in the second half of 2022, and the full album Sundown appeared in March 2023. Promotional travel brought him back to the BBC set of Later... With Jools Holland nearly thirty years after he and Pettigrew had performed there. In May 2024 Chacon co-wrote and fronted PREP’s “Call It,” then returned five months later with “Empire,” the lead single from his next Stones Throw album; the harder-grooving track included Kirby’s keyboards, Hakim’s production, and additional writing from drummer Abe Rounds and saxophonist Jesse Scheinin. The Hakim-produced parent album Lay Low arrived in January 2025.
Albums
Singles
