Gerald Levert

Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and producer.

Levert was best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the R&B vocal group, LeVert.

Levert was also a member of LSG, a supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and himself.

Levert was the son of Eddie Levert, lead singer of the R&B/soul vocal group the O'Jays.

He released nine solo albums, six as a member of LeVert, two with his father, Eddie Levert, and two as a member of LSG.

Levert was also credited with the discovery of R&B groups the Rude Boys, Men at Large, and 1 of the Girls.

Levert was also part of the R&B group Black Men United.

Levert was born to the frontman of the O'Jays, Eddie Levert, and his wife Martha in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 1966.

He grew up in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland.

Levert often joined his father and his band on the road for their various performances.

While in high school, Levert's inclination towards music became apparent when he formed the trio LeVert, with his younger brother Sean Levert (September 28, 1968 – March 30, 2008) and friend Marc Gordon in 1983.

Four of LeVert's seven albums went gold.

Gerald Levert dated singer Miki Howard from 1985 to 1989.

Levert's first solo album, Private Line, debuted in 1991 and topped the R&B charts.

The following year, Gerald and his father, Eddie Levert, topped the R&B charts again with the single, Baby Hold On to Me.

In 1997, Levert teamed up again with fellow singers Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill, to form the supergroup, LSG.

Levert recorded a string of albums throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, that contained the hit singles, "Thinkin' About It" (No. 12 Pop) which was released June 23, 1998, "Taking Everything" (No. 11 Pop), "Funny", "Mr. Too Damn Good to You", "U Got That Love", and a remake of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly", along with gospel singer Yolanda Adams.

Levert began his acting career as Charles Young, his first appearance on The Jamie Foxx Show for 2 episodes with "Just Don't Do It", that aired on November 5, 1998, and Jamie disapproves of his mother (Jo Marie Payton) because she decided to marry him in the episode.

In 1999, Levert sang the chorus on the Chris Rock spoken-word comedy piece, "No Sex (In the Champagne Room)".

In January 2001, Gerald appears again in the series finale "Always and Forever" when Jamie (Jamie Foxx) and Fancy (Garcelle Beauvais) got married and sang the opening ceremony at the wedding and joined by fellow singers Gladys Knight and Marilyn McCoo (without her husband Billy Davis Jr.).

Levert also sang lead vocals in two songs on the 2002 film documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" - the story of the Funk Brothers.

Levert performed "Shotgun" and "Reach Out I'll Be There".

The trio released the album Levert-Sweat-Gill the same year, selling over two million copies; it was followed by LSG2 in 2003.

On November 10, 2003 (exactly three years prior to his death), Levert's final acting role that aired during his lifetime was when he appeared in an episode of The Parkers, He played T's father in the episode and comes for a visit to start a new band with T.

In 2003, Levert had a relationship with singer Kandi Burruss.

Levert performed a duet with Teena Marie on the latter's 2004 album La Doña.

Levert released his tenth album, Voices, in 2005.

Levert wrote and produced songs for other artists such as Patti LaBelle, Barry White, Stephanie Mills, Anita Baker, Eugene Wilde, Teddy Pendergrass, James Ingram, Freddie Jackson, Chuckii Booker, the Rude Boys, New Edition, Men at Large, The O'Jays, Keith Washington and 1 of the Girls.

During the release of Groove On, Levert appeared in the group Black Men United for the hit single "U Will Know" for the Jason's Lyric soundtrack; other members of the group included Keith Sweat, Christopher Williams and Levert's former mentor Joe Little of the Rude Boys.

Levert was taking the pain medication because of chronic pain from a lingering shoulder problem and surgery in 2005 to repair a severed Achilles tendon.

Levert's last collaborations included Jim Brickman on the song "My Angel", for Brickman's 2006 album entitled Escape and on the song "Real S***" from rapper Styles P's album, Time Is Money.

Levert was posthumously featured again on former groupmates Keith Sweat's "Knew It All Along" and Johnny Gill from the singer's Til the Morning album, which was released two days before Levert's fifth anniversary of his death.

On November 10, 2006, Gerald Levert was found dead in his bed at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.

Initial reports stated that Levert had died of an apparent heart attack, but the autopsy report conducted by the Cuyahoga County coroner's office concluded that Levert's death was caused by a fatal combination of prescription narcotics and over-the-counter drugs.

The drugs in his bloodstream included the narcotic pain relievers Vicodin, Percocet, and Darvocet, along with anxiety medication Xanax and two over-the-counter antihistamines.

The autopsy also revealed that Levert had pneumonia.

The official cause of death was acute intoxication, and the death was ruled accidental.

Gerald Levert was 40 years old.

Following the disclosure of Gerald Levert's cause of death, a family spokesman stated that all the drugs found in Levert's bloodstream were prescribed to the singer.

Levert was also posthumously featured on Keith Sweat's track "Let's Go to Bed" from his 2016 studio album Dress to Impress.