R&B singer and songwriter K-Ci – born Cedric Hailey on September 2, 1969, in Charlotte, North Carolina – is best known as a member of soul / R&B hitmakers Jodeci and K-Ci & JoJo. His family performed gospel music and he made his recorded debut in 1983 with family group Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers. After three albums with his gospel group, K-Ci and his brother JoJo (Joel Hailey) formed R&B group Jodeci. The enormously successful group released three album that hit Number 1 on Billboard’s R&B / Hip Hop Albums chart: Forever My Lady (1991), Diary of a Mad Band (1993), and The Show, the After Party, the Hotel (1995). During this run of hit albums, K-Ci recorded a cover of Bobby Womack’s “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” for the 1994 film Jason’s Lyric. Jodeci announced an indefinite hiatus in 1996 and K-Ci and his brother Joel formed the duo K-Ci & JoJo. Their first three albums – Love Always (1997), It’s Real (1999), and X (2000) – reached the Top 3 on the R&B Albums chart while their album Emotional (2002) climbed to Number 18. The duo went on hiatus as K-Ci pursued a solo career, releasing the album My Book in 2006. K-Ci & JoJo reunited in 2013 for the album My Brother’s Keeper and then returned to Jodeci for the 2015 album The Past, The Present, The Future, their first album in two decades.
