Raphael Saadiq (/səˈdiːk/; born Charles Ray Wiggins, May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with his brother D'Wayne and cousin Timothy Christian Riley in 1986. Initially, the band went by the name "Tony, Toni, Toné" as a joke, until they realised it "had a nice ring to it". Along with his groupwork and solo career, he has produced and written songs for other R&B artists, including Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Total, Earth, Wind & Fire, Joss Stone, TLC, En Vogue, Kelis, Mary J. Blige, Ledisi, Whitney Houston, Solange Knowles and John Legend. After touring with Prince, Sheila E. and Sheena Easton as a bassist in the mid-1980s, Saadiq co-founded Tony! Toni! Tone!. He went on to release four albums—Who! (1988), The Revival(1990), Sons of Soul (1993), and House of Music(1996)—with the band before their indefinite hiatus. Before House of Music, Saadiq released his 1995 debut solo single, "Ask of You", for the soundtrack to the John Singleton film Higher Learning. He formed the music production unit the Ummah (with D'Angelo, Q-Tip, Ali…show more
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