Johnny Gill

Johnny Gill: Biography in Details

Who is Johnny Gill?

Johnny Gill is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is also known as “JG,” “Johnny G,” and “J Skillz.”

Likely, he is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat.

How old is Johnny Gill?

Johnny Gill was born in Washington, D.C., the United States on May 22, 1966. His birth name is Johnny Gill Jr. and he is currently 56 years old.

His father’s name is  Johnny Gill Sr. (Baptist minister) and his mother’s name is Annie Mae Gill. He started singing at the age of five singing along in church in a family gospel group called Little Johnny and “Wings of Faith”.

Johnny Gill has three siblings namely, Randy Gill, Bobby Gill, and Jeff Gill. Johnny holds American citizenship, and his ethnicity is African-American. His birth sign is Gemini.

Education, School/ College University

Talking about Gill’s education history, Gill attended Kimball Elementary, Sousa Junior High, and Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

Johnny Gill planned to attend college to pursue a degree in electrical engineering but decided instead to focus on his singing career.

Johnny Gill: Professional Life, Career

Talking about his profession, in 1982, singer Stacy Lattisaw, who was his childhood friend and who had heard Gill perform in his family group, persuaded him to record a demo. The president of ‘Atlantic Records’ heard the demo and liked it. Thus, Gill recorded his first album at the age of 16.

The debut album, titled ‘Johnny Gill,’ was released by ‘Cotillion Records,’ a subsidiary of ‘Atlantic Records.’ His first single, ‘Super Love,’ made its place among the top 30 singles on the ‘R&B Hit chart. His next project was a duet album with Stacy Lattisaw, titled ‘Perfect Combination.’

It graced the ‘Billboard 200’ and brought him national attention and fame. He recorded his second solo album, ‘Chemistry,’ in 1985, but it failed to achieve much commercial success. Gill’s music career received a boost when, in 1987, he joined ‘New Edition’ as their lead singer.

The group was a popular boy band of the 1980s, with all of its members, except Gill, being from Boston. Michael Bivins was responsible for making Gill join the band. Gill was an apt replacement for Bobby Brown. The group released their album Heart Break’ in 1987, and a single from the album, ‘Can You Stand The Rain,’ reached the number one spot on the R&B charts.

The song ‘My My My’ aced the ‘US R&B chart’ and was among the Top 10 on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart. The album reached the top spot on the ‘US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and was among the Top 10 on the ‘US Billboard 200’ chart.

Johnny Gill then released ‘Let’s Get the Mood Right in 1996. Both these albums earned the “gold” certification from the ‘Recording Industry Association of America’ (RIAA). He reunited with the band ‘New Edition,’ and together, they released an album, ‘Home Again,’ in 1996. Along with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat, Gill formed the supergroup ‘LSG’ (Levert/Sweat/Gill).

Their debut album, ‘Levert.Sweat.Gill’ was a hit and achieved “double-platinum” status. Their last album, ‘LSG2,’ released in 2003, was also a hit. In 2008, he formed a group with his previous ‘New Edition’ bandmates Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant. A few songs from the album, such as ‘Behind Closed Door’ and ‘Game Changer,’ went on to become R&B radio hits.

Johnny Gill's Birthday Dates