Glenn Lewis

R&B vocalist and composer Glenn Lewis grew up in Toronto, Ontario, surrounded by music from an early age. His father, Glenn Ricketts, fronted the Columbia-signed mid-'70s group Crack ov Dawn and routinely spun Stevie Wonder albums at home, sparking Lewis's deep admiration for the Motown icon. Both parents being musicians, the family frequently visited recording studios together. Only during adolescence did Lewis begin to view music as his vocation, at which point he started composing original material. On impulse he entered a high-school talent competition, captivating the crowd with a rendition of Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You."

Following graduation, Lewis cut demonstration recordings alongside musician Alex Greggs while maintaining regular employment and frequenting local clubs to observe other acts. He gradually earned recognition as a performer within Toronto's club circuit. A demo tape secured a contract for his debut single, the 1998 Beat Factory/BMG release "The Thing to Do," which received a Juno Award for Best R&B Recording. Follow-up single "Bout Your Love" earned a second Juno nomination.

Lewis next joined Epic Records and collaborated with the songwriting and production team Dre & Vidal on the March 2002 album World Outside My Window. While "Don't You Forget It" ascended the charts, an unexpected highlight occurred: Stevie Wonder heard the track, invited Lewis to his Los Angeles station, and, after an on-air interview, expressed his admiration by singing the song on the spot. The album reached number four on the Billboard 200, bringing Lewis another Juno Award. Subsequent obstacles stalled his momentum. Although his duet with Amel Larrieux on the Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway standard "Where Is the Love," included on Stanley Clarke's 1, 2, To the Bass, garnered a 2004 Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, two completed albums remained unreleased. Lewis reemerged in October 2013 with the Ruffhouse-issued Moment of Truth, his second official full-length project.