Luke James

Luke James Boyd (born June 13, 1984), better known as Luke James, is an American R&B singer-songwriter. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, James began his musical career singing background for R&B artist Tyrese and later writing songs for recording artists such as Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Keri Hilson and Justin Bieber. Under the management of record producer Danja, James released his first mixtape, #Luke, in 2011. The mixtape's critically acclaimed single "I Want You" earned him a Best R&B Performance nomination at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. Like the first project, he released his second mixtape Whispers in the Dark as a free music download in 2012. His debut studio album, Made to Love, is scheduled to be released in 2014.
 
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised by a single mother, James was influenced by an eclectic array of music, particularly jazz and R&B. James said his love for music started when he watched a contestant perform a cover version of "A Song for You" on Showtime at the Apollo. He said "I got chills. And I get that feeling all over again whenever I think about that performance. At the time, I’d never said I wanted to be a singer; I just knew I wanted to entertain. And I’d never heard of Donny. But when my mother found her copy of one of his records, I knew then that I wanted to reach people that way."
 
As a child, James was inspired by several recording artists and musicians such as Marvin Gaye, Willie Nelson, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Alabama, among others. He credits his mother for introducing him to all kinds of music. James attended St. Augustine High School with schoolmate, (and future OFWGKTA member) singer-songwriter Frank Ocean. While in high school, he joined a musical trio named Upskale with friends Quinten Spears (known as Q) and Tah for a brief period, which introduced him to his longtime manager, choreographer Frank Gatson. After graduating high school, the trio split and James relocated to Los Angeles, California. Q and James later formed a duo called Luke & Q, where James performed under the name Luke Boyd. Shortly after forming the group, the duo was able to be the opening act for R&B artist and actor Tyrese Gibson during one of his concerts. However, after the failure to garner both James and Q much recognition, they decided to both part ways.
 
2007–present: songwriting and breakthrough
 
After disbanding, James honed his skills as a songwriter, quickly hooked up with producer Danja, and began to craft hits for those in the pop, R&B and soul genres. He also worked alongside Tank. He began to co-write hits such as Chris Brown's "Crawl" for his third album, Graffiti. In addition to writing for Brown, he also wrote (or co-wrote) hits for pop artists such as Justin Bieber ("That Should Be Me"), Britney Spears ("Kill the Lights") and Keri Hilson ("Do It").
 
In 2011, he was personally selected by R&B singer Beyoncé to appear as a dancer in her "Run the World (Girls)" music video. In December 2011, he released his debut extended play (EP) album #Luke as a free digital download. His first single, "I Want You", received universal acclaim from critics for its production and for James' vocal performance. The single later earned him a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2012 Soul Train Music Awards. Upon release of his second free digital mixtape, Whispers in the Dark, in December 2012, James began to garner buzz for his formal debut album Made to Love, which is expected to be released from Def Jam in early 2014. On January 8, 2013, the album's first single, "Make Love to Me", was released to iTunes one month after the music video. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, James was nominated for Best R&B Performance award for his 2012 single "I Want You" (but he lost to Usher's "Climax"). On February 7, 2013, the song "I.O.U." was released as the second single from his anticipated album Made to Love. In 2013, he was personally chosen by Beyoncé to be an opening act for her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.