Seale is a popular British singer-songwriter, winner of three Grammy Awards and several Brit Awards. Sil began his creative activity in the distant 1990. To understand who we are dealing with, just listen to the tracks: Killer, Crazy and Kiss From a Rose.
The childhood and youth of the singer
Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel is the full name of a British singer. He was born on February 19, 1963 in the Paddington area. His father, Francis Samuel, is Brazilian of African descent, and his mother, Adebishi Samuel, is a native of Nigeria.
Henry's parents moved to England from Nigeria. When the son was born, the parents were students. In parallel with attending an educational institution, they had to work. Dad and mom had no choice but to transfer Henry to a foster family.
The parents were young. Their marriage could not stand the poverty, and four years after the birth of the child, the couple divorced. The mother took her son to her, for about two years they lived in London.
Samuel recalls that the two years he spent with his mother became the most vivid memory of his childhood. Soon my mother fell ill and had to return to Nigeria. Francis was forced to hand over her son to her father.
Henry's childhood was not the best. He recalls that his father was very hard on him. Dad drank a lot. Often there was no bread at home, not to mention clothing and hygiene products.
The reason for the appearance of scars on the face of the singer Seal
This period greatly influenced the formation of the character of the future star. As a child, the boy was given a disappointing diagnosis - discoid lupus erythematosus. The characteristic scars on Henry's face cannot be made up. The performer says that he could remove the scars with surgery, but does not intend to do so.
Henry was a difficult teenager. The boy did not want to study. He was not instilled with an interest in knowledge, so he dropped out of school as a teenager.
Despite the fact that the school did not work out, Henry entered a higher educational institution. The young man successfully graduated from the institute and received a diploma in architecture.
After graduation, the guy tried himself in different directions. He has worked as an electronics designer, a leather goods designer, even as a general catering salesman.
The beginning of the artist's creative career
From the mid-1980s Seal began to sing. Moreover, the young man came on stage with only one goal - to make money. He performed in nightclubs, restaurants and karaoke bars.
Around the same time period, Seal received an invitation from the British punk band Push to "ride" concerts around Japan. For a while, he traveled around Thailand with a blues band. In 1985 Seal was already touring India on his own.
Having gained experience, the young man returned to England. There he met Adam Tinley, known as Adamski. Henry presented Adam with the lyrics for the track Killer. For Sil, this composition was the first public performance as a vocalist.
The song Killer has become a real "gun". The track was at the top of the UK charts for a month. In addition, this composition took 23rd position on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.
Signing with ZTT Records
Seal turned pro after signing with ZTT Records in 1991. At the same time, the singer presented his debut album to music lovers, which was called Seal.
The well-known producer Trevor Horne was involved in the "promotion" and production of the collection. To appreciate the level of Trevor, it is enough to recall that he worked with Rod Stewart, and later with the Frankie Goes to Hollywood and ATB bands. The band Wendy and Lisa participated in the recording of the debut compilation.
The record went on sale in 1991. Despite the fact that Seal was essentially a beginner, the collection was surprisingly warmly received by music critics and ordinary music lovers.
The debut album peaked at number 24 on the US music charts. The album has sold over 3 million copies. Tracks Crazy, Future Love Paradise and Killer's own version of the song took the top positions in the charts.
On the territory of the United States of America, the Crazy track became a real hit. The song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Music Charts and number 15 in the UK. And this is taking into account the fact that Seal in 1991 did not have a significant audience of fans.
At the 1992 Brit Awards, the singer won the Best British Artist nomination. The debut compilation received the title of "Best British Album of the Year". The video for the track Killer was named "Best British Video of the Year".
Seal enjoyed the long-awaited huge popularity. The British singer has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Best Male Vocal. In the same 1991, the artist's debut album reached the "gold" status.
The peak of the popularity of the singer Force
At the beginning of 1990, there was a peak in the popularity of the British artist. But the popularity was overshadowed by the exacerbation of a chronic disease. This took away the powers of the star, and Force became depressed. The situation worsened after he got into a car accident.
Seal and Jeff Beck released a cover of Manic Depression in 1993. This composition was included in the album Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix. The featured track was also released as a single.
Seal was not original, so he called his album corny - Seal. The second studio album was released in 1994. In order not to confuse two different records, the second album is often referred to as Seal II.
The cover of the album was decorated by the performer himself - Seal sits on a white background, bowing his head and spreading his arms up behind his back. The British singer admitted that this is one of his favorite photographs. Seal used this cover for subsequent collections. In particular, the image can be seen on the Best 1991-2004 hits collection.
The second studio album was certified platinum. Seal released several songs from the compilation Prayer for the Dying and Newborn Friend as singles.
The studio album's recognition was that it received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Album of the Year. For the performance of the musical composition Prayer for the Dying, the British singer was nominated in the category "Best Male Pop Vocal".
The third track, Kiss from a Rose, reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the mid-1990s. Within a month, he was in the ARC Weekly Top 40. Today, Kiss from a Rose is the calling card of the Force.
Soundtrack to the movie "Batman Forever"
Director Joel Schumacher used the track Kiss from a Rose as the soundtrack for the movie Batman Forever. The track has been re-recorded. Soon a bright video clip was released on it, which was nominated for the MTV Movie Awards as "Best Video from a Film". Even more interesting is that the track Kiss from a Rose was written by Seal back in 1988, and the singer did not think that it would become a mega hit.
This composition in 1996 received several Grammy awards at once. In particular, the song Kiss from a Rose received the awards "Song of the Year" and "Record of the Year".
Seal soon covered the song Fly Like an Eagle by the popular Steve Miller Band. The British artist decided to add words from the track Crazy to the text of the composition. A version of Seal was used in the motion picture Space Jam. The cover version performed by the singer took 13th position in the UK charts and 10th position in the United States of America.
In 1998, the artist's discography was replenished with the new album Human Being. The album turned out to be slightly sad and depressing. The track Human Beings Force was written under the influence of the death of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
A few months after the album's release, it reached gold status. The collection interested music lovers. Later tracks were released: Human Beings, Latest Craze and Lost My Faith.
Creative biography Sila in the early 2000s
In the early 2000s, Seal announced a new album, Together Land. But it soon became clear that he canceled the release of the collection. The material was released as a single.
Three years later, Seal's discography was replenished with the Seal album. Interestingly, in Australia the record was sold as Seal IV. The performer told reporters:
“Music critics say that it took me 5 years to record the album. I do not agree with the statement. I worked on a new collection twice. The compositions didn't come out good enough, so I improved them. I erased the previous works, and started all over again ... ".
The new collection cannot be called successful. But the Force didn't mind. The very next year, the singer released a collection of hits Best 1991-2004.
The next disc, System, was released only in 2007. “The mood of the new album was similar to the debut compilation,” fans said. The track Wedding Day Seal sang a duet with his wife Heidi Klum.
Personal life Strength
Until 2003, Seal was in a relationship with popular model Tyra Banks. Their romance was not successful, because the girl, according to Sil himself, had an incredibly complex character.
The next hobby of the singer was Heidi Klum. In 2005, the lovers legalized the relationship. The wedding and celebration took place in Mexico.
This union produced four beautiful children. In 2012, information appeared about the divorce of the spouses. Heidi declared that their union would not save anything. The divorce proceedings began in 2014.
Force today
The British singer released his last album in 2007. Despite this, he did not cancel or suspend touring activities. In 2020, Seal was supposed to perform in Lviv at a jazz festival.
According to the organizers of the international jazz festival Leopolis Jazz Fest, Seal will perform on the main stage of the festival in June 2021. The performance date had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
