Seal

Childhood

Henry Olusegan Adeola Samuel was born February 19, 1963 in Paddington (district in London ). Sil's parents, Francis Samuel, a Brazilian of African descent, and Adebisi Samuel , a native of Nigeria , moved to England from Nigeria. Since both of them were students at the time and worked at the same time, soon after the birth of their son, they transferred him to a foster family in Essex . When the Force was four years old, the marriage of his parents broke up, Adebishi took the Force back to him, and they lived in London for two years. Then, due to illness, the mother had to return to Nigeria, and Sil stayed with his father. He calls his childhood “harsh”, mentioning that his father mistreated him, and admits that this period greatly influenced what he has become now. ^[four]

As a child, Force was diagnosed with discoid lupus erythematosus , characteristic facial scars - a consequence of the disease. ^{[4] [5]}

At the age of 15, Sil left school and fled home. He graduated from the institute, receiving a diploma in architecture. ^[four]

Beginning of a music career

After graduating from the Force Institute, he often changes his place of work, trying his hand at a variety of professions - from the designer of electrical devices to the designer of leather goods, and also works at McDonald's. ^[4] In the mid -1980s, after several attempts to earn money by singing in various clubs and bars, Seal went with a British punk band Push to tour Japan . For some time, Seal, together with the blues group, traveled to Thailand , and then went on his own to India . ^[6]

Returning to England, Seal meets a DJ and producer Adam Tinley, known as Adamsky, and presents him with the text of the song “Killer”. For Force, this song was the first public appearance as a vocalist. In May 1990, the single "Killer" for four weeks was at the top of the UK charts , and also reached 23rd place on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.

In 1991, Seal signed with ZTT Records and released his debut album, Seal . The album was produced by musician and producer Trevor Horn , who previously worked with Rod Stewart , and later with projects Frankie Goes to Hollywood and ATB . The duet Wendy and Lisa also participated in the recording of the album. The debut album also included a re-recorded version of the song "Killer".

The album was released in June 1991 and was warmly received by critics, ranked 24th in the US charts and was sold worldwide with more than three million copies. ^[6] The singles “Crazy”, “Future Love Paradise” and their own version of the single “Killer” were high on the charts. In the USA, the song “ Crazy ” became a hit, reaching seventh in the Billboard Music Charts and 15th in the UK. At the 1992 Brit Awards , Seal wins the Best British Artist nomination, Seal gets the title of Best British Album of the Year, and the video for the song Killer is marked as Best British Clip of the Year. ^[7] The singer was also nominated for a Grammy in the categories of "Best New Artist" and "Best Male Vocal", but did not receive an award. ^[8] The video for the song “Crazy” received four nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards . In November 1991, the singer's debut album received gold status in the United States.

Later in an interview with The Independent , Seal spoke of his first album like this:

It was a very idealistic view of the world. The main slogan of that album could be considered something like: “if we unite, we will certainly save this world.” I recently returned from a long trip to Asia and was full of grandiose plans to rebuild the world. ^[9]

Original text

This was very young, very idealistic point of view: "if we only stick together we can save the world." I'd just come back from a longtrip to Asia and I was unstoppable in that respect.

Success

Despite the success and fame that came to Strength, a difficult period began in life - frequent stress and illness, a car accident. ^[9]

Together with guitarist Jeff Beck in 1993, Ceele recorded a cover version of Manic Depression, which was included on Stone Free: A Tribute To Jimi Hendrix, and was also released as a single. ^[four]

The singer releases his second album, which was named just like the first one - “ Seal ”, in the summer of 1994 . For clarity, the second album is often called "Seal II". On the cover of the album on a white background was the silhouette of the Force, which sits with its head bowed and arms spread up behind its back. Later this image was used several times for Strength album covers, as well as for the collection of his best hits “ Best 1991-2004 ”.

Already in August, the album received the status of gold, and in January of next year - a platinum disc. Two songs from the album “ Prayer for the Dying ” and “Newborn Friend” were released as singles. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the categories "Album of the Year" and "Best Pop Album of the Year", and for the performance of the song "Prayer for the Dying" Seal was nominated in the category "Best Male Pop Vocal".

The third single, “ Kiss from a Rose ”, was fourth in the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1995 ^[10] and for four weeks was in first place in the ARC Weekly Top 40 ranking. ^[11] Later, the director of the movie “ Batman Forever ” Joel Schumacher decided to use the composition in the soundtrack for the film. The single was reissued and a new clip was shot in support of it, which was nominated for the MTV Movie Awards as "Best Video from the Movie." ^[12] The song “Kiss from a Rose” itself was written by Sil in 1988 . ^{[9] [13]}

In 1996, at the Grammy Awards, the song “Kiss from a Rose” received two awards - “Song of the Year” and “Record of the Year”, and the singer won the nomination “Best Male Pop Vocal”.

Seal is recording a cover version of the song “ Fly Like an Eagle ” by Steve Miller Band , adding some of his song “Crazy”. His version of “Fly Like an Eagle” was used in the movie “ Space Jam ” starring Michael Jordan . The composition performed by Strength reached 13th place in the UK charts and 10th in the USA.

In 1998, Seal released the next album, entitled " Human Being ." In an interview with Yahoo! Music magazine, Sil said that the sad mood of the title track of the new album, “Human Beings”, was inspired by the death of rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious BIG. ^[14] The album received gold status two months after its release. Three singles were later released: Human Beings, Latest Craze, and Lost My Faith.

2000s

In 2001, the fourth album, “Togetherland,” was announced. However, his release was canceled, the album material was released as a single.

Two years later, in 2003, Seal released the fourth album, for the third time named after the singer - “ Seal ”. Only in Australia was the album released under the name "Seal IV". About the work on the album Seal says the following:

Many claim that it took 5 years to record an album. I do not agree with that. I worked on this album twice. The first time it all started 4.5 years ago and took 2 years, but then I decided that the songs were not good enough. This was not what I was striving for. So, I erased everything that was recorded and started work on a new one. ^[15]

Original text

People are saying it's taken five years to make an album, but I disagree with that a little bit. I made the album twice. It started four and a half years ago, and I got two years into it and decided that it wasn't good enough, that it wasn't what I needed to be doing. So I scrapped that and started again. ^[sixteen]

However, album sales could not reach the level of previous strength work.

The following year, Sil released the album of his best hits, " Best 1991-2004 ."

In June 2005, Seal recorded a special concert, which was released on CD in 2006 under the title “ One Night to Remember ”. The recording was performed live in " Altes Kesselhaus " ( Düsseldorf , Germany ) to the accompaniment of an orchestra and choir, the disk contains a version of Brahms ' Lullaby, which Seal performed in German .

Seal performed live twice at the world-famous fashion show Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Ongoing Projects

The album " System " was released in November 2007 . Seal described it as a more danceable, somewhat returning to the style of the times of his first album. The song "Wedding Day" Seal performed a duet with his wife Heidi Klum . The first single “Amazing” from the album was released in September 2007 and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category “Best Male Pop Vocal”. ^[17]

Personal life

In 1996, Seale met with American model and actress Tyra Banks . Their romance ended in October 2003. ^[18]

In 2004, in New York, Seal met the German top model Heidi Klum . In December, they became engaged, and on May 10, 2005, the couple got married. The wedding ceremony took place in Mexico .

Seal and Heidi raise four children: two daughters - Helen (biological father - Italian businessman, Formula 1 manager Flavio Briatore ) and Lou Sulola Samuel (Lou Sulola Samuel, born October 9, 2009), as well as two sons - Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu Samuel ( born Henry Günther Ademola Dashtu Samuel , born September 12, 2005) and Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel , born November 22, 2006). ^{[19] [20]}

On January 21, 2012, it became known that Heidi filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences. However, the singer does not remove the ring, explaining this by the fact that he "still loves Heidi." ^[21]

Rewards

• 1991 - “ Q Award ” (annual music award of the magazine “ Q ” ) - “Best New Act” (“Best New Act”) ^[22]
• 1992 - Brit Awards - "Best British Artist"
• 1992 - Brit Awards - “Best British Album of the Year” ( Seal album)
• 1992 - Brit Awards - "The Best British Clip of the Year" (clip for the song "Killer")
• 1995 - Grammy Award - Record of the Year (Kiss from a Rose)
• 1995 - Grammy Award - “Song of the Year” (“Kiss from a Rose”)
• 1995 - Grammy Award - “Best Male Pop Vocal” (“Kiss from a Rose”)
• 1996 - BMI Film & TV Awards - the best song for the film (“ Batman Forever ”, composition “Kiss From a Rose”)
• 2004 - German media award Bambi ^[23]

Nominations

• 1991 - nomination for the MTV Video Music Awards in the categories "Best New Artist", "Best Special Effects", "Best Editing" and "Breakthrough of the Year" (clip for the song "Crazy")
• 1991 - Grammy nomination in the categories "Best New Artist" and "Best Male Vocal" ("Crazy")
• 1994 - Grammy nomination in the categories "Album of the Year", "Best Pop Album of the Year" and "Best Male Pop Vocal" ("Prayer For The Dying")
• 1996 - nomination for the MTV Movie Awards in the category "Best Video from the Movie" ( Batman Forever , Kiss From a Rose)
• 2007 - nomination for the Golden Globe Award in the category "Best Song" (film " Pursuit of Happiness ", composition "A Father's Way")
• 2007 - Grammy nomination in the category "Best Male Vocal" (single "Amazing")

• Official website
• Myspace official website of the Forces