Gerald Levert

The son of O’Jays founder Eddie Levert, Gerald Levert was raised in the Cleveland, Ohio, area and went on to find some success of his own as a musical performer.  In 1987, he and his brother Sean, along with Marc Gordon, hit the Top 5 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart with “Casanova” as the group LeVert.  Then, in 1997, he joined Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill to form LSG, whose song “My Body” peaked at number 4 on the Hot 100 in early 1998.  Meanwhile, as a solo artist, Gerald Levert’s biggest Hot 100 chart success came exactly 15 years ago as “Taking Everything” peaked at number 11, just beating out the number 12 peak position of his previous single, “Thinkin’ Bout It.”

Levert fared even better on the R&B chart, where he scored multiple number 1 hits and a host of Top 10 singles — with LeVert, with LSG, and on his own — making him a staple of R&B radio from the mid-1980s through the late 1990s.

Gerald Levert passed away in 2006 at the age of 40.  His brother and follow LeVert member, Sean, also died young, at age 39 in 2008.