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William Jermaine Stewart
(September 7, 1957 - March 17, 1997) USA

Jermaine Stewar

Singer-songwriter, dancer

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William Jermaine Stewart was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Ethel and Eugene Stewart. In 1972, his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Stewart took his first steps toward a career in entertainment. Eventually he gained recognition as a dancer on the locally produced television show Soul Train . While working there he befriended two other Soul Train dancers, fellow Chicagoan Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel.

After Soul Train relocated to Los Angeles, the three friends auditioned to become members of the group Shalamar, which was put together by Soul Train creator Don Cornelius and booking agent Dick Griffey. Watley and Daniels were selected for the group as backup/semi-lead vocalists, and Stewart lost out to Gary Mumford during his audition for lead vocalist.

However, Stewart toured with the new group as a dancer for several years, and while in London for a show, he met Mikey Craig of Culture Club. Realizing that Stewart was a talented singer, Craig assisted him in putting together a demo tape, and Stewart was given the opportunity to sing background vocals on Culture Club's song Miss Me Blind . As a result of the combination of a strong demo and his ties with Culture Club, he landed a recording contract with Arista Records.

Stewart's next album was 1986's Frantic Romantic , which included the US top ten hit single "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off". The song also hit the top ten in the UK, Canada, and Ireland. A second single, "Jody", was released, the inspiration being his friend Jody Watley, which reached the US R&B top twenty. Frantic Romantic would be Stewart's most successful selling album, peaking at number 34 in the US.

Stewart's third album was entitled Say It Again . The next three singles were all remixed by Phil Harding. "Get Lucky" (UK No. 13), "Don't Talk Dirty to Me" (UK No. 61), and "Is It Really Love?" found success in Europe, particularly in Germany, where "Don't Talk Dirty to Me" was one of the top five selling singles of 1988. His fourth and final album under contract with Arista Records was What Becomes a Legend Most.

Shortly before his death, Stewart returned to the studio to record a new album titled Believe In Me . Although the album was not completed, the finished tracks were released on the 2005 compilation Attention: A Tribute to Jermaine Stewart , which was released under BFG Records.

Stewart never came out of the closet but most assume he was in fact gay. He died of AIDS-related liver cancer, at age 39, in the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Illinois.

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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