Seal

Emerging from Britain’s house music underground in 1990, Seal quickly established himself as the leading British soul singer of the decade. Although traces of acid house lingered in his earliest work, he soon developed a signature blend of soul, folk, pop, dance, and rock that earned widespread acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Early triumphs arrived swiftly: an Ivor Novello Award recognized his debut single, and three Grammy Awards followed within a few years. Signature tracks such as “Crazy” and “Kiss from a Rose” anchored albums that repeatedly achieved gold and platinum status across multiple markets. That commercial consistency extended into the new century with the 2008 release Soul and the 2015 album 7. In 2017 he reached the summit of the jazz albums chart with a set of pop standards captured at the historic Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. A deluxe reissue project in 2024 marked the thirtieth anniversary of his multi-platinum second album, also titled Seal.

Born Sealhenry Samuel in 1963 to Nigerian and Brazilian parents and raised in England, he earned an architectural degree before taking on assorted jobs that included electrical engineering and leather-clothing design. He eventually began performing in London clubs and bars, then joined the English funk outfit Push for a mid-eighties tour of Japan. While in Asia he sang with a blues group based in Thailand before setting off alone to travel across India. Back in England he encountered house and techno producer Adamski, supplying lyrics and vocals for the 1990 U.K. number-one single “Killer,” which earned another Ivor Novello Award. Seal then secured a solo deal with ZTT and cut his self-titled debut with Trevor Horn, whose prior credits included work with Yes, ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Grace Jones. The album’s lead track “Crazy” climbed to number 15 in Britain in 1990 and reached number seven stateside the next year, while the full set peaked at number 24 in the U.S. and sold more than three million copies worldwide.

Three years elapsed before his sophomore album appeared. In the interim he contributed to the Jimi Hendrix tribute Stone Free, lending his voice to Jeff Beck’s reading of “Manic Depression.” Released in summer 1994 and preceded by the American Top 40 single “Prayer for the Dying,” the second Seal album initially peaked at number 20 and moved a million units by spring 1995. Its fortunes surged the following year when “Kiss from a Rose” appeared on the Batman Forever soundtrack; the song topped the U.S. pop chart and held the adult-contemporary summit for twelve weeks, driving the album past four million American sales. The track also garnered three Grammys: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Human Being, Seal’s third album, arrived in 1998 and enjoyed far less commercial traction. Five years later—following the shelving of Togetherland, a project he later dismissed as “crap”—he issued Seal IV, which returned him to the U.K. Top Ten and placed him in the American Top Ten for the first time. Interim collections included Best: 1991-2004 and the live package Live in Paris. During this period he married Heidi Klum, who joined him on the duet “Wedding Day” from the 2007 album System.

A more prolific phase followed. With Soul (2008) he turned to classic soul covers; the set earned gold, platinum, or diamond certification in eight countries and reached number 13 in the U.S. David Foster produced that project and stayed on board for Commitment (2010) and Soul 2 (2011), the latter another covers collection that also reunited Seal with Trevor Horn. The 2015 album 7, released three years after his divorce from Klum, was previewed by “Every Time I’m with You” and “Do You Ever,” all tracks again produced by Horn. Signing with Decca, Seal collaborated with producer Nick Patrick at Capitol Studios on a collection of pop standards. Working with veteran jazz and pop musicians in the room where Frank Sinatra had recorded, he completed his tenth album, Standards, issued in 2017. The record reached the U.K. pop Top 20, topped Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

Reuniting with longtime producer Trevor Horn, Seal launched a major North American tour in 2023, with Horn serving as musical director and bassist. The following year he marked the thirtieth anniversary of his sophomore album with a deluxe reissue that featured an alternate version of the perennial hit “Kiss from a Rose.”