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Raphael Saadiq

Known For
Sound

Known Credits
20

Gender
Male

Birthday
May 14, 1966 (60 years old)

Place of Birth
Oakland, California, USA

Raphael Saadiq

Biography

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 Shaheed Muhammad, and J Dilla). "Ask of You" peaked within the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and led him to briefly sign with the now-defunct Universal Records as a solo act. In 1999, he formed the supergroup Lucy Pearl with singer Dawn Robinson and Ummah cohort Ali Shaheed Muhammad; the group's self-titled debut album (2000) was supported by the Hot 100 top-40 single "Dance Tonight" and served as their only project before disbanding in 2001.

Saadiq has since released five solo albums, including the critically acclaimed Instant Vintage (2002), Ray Ray (2004), as well as the retro-styled The Way I See It (2008) and Stone Rollin' (2011). The contemporary-sounding Jimmy Lee was released in 2019 and earned Saadiq further acclaim.

Music critic Robert Christgau has called Saadiq the "preeminent R&B artist of the '90s". Saadiq has won three Grammy Awards for his songwriting work out of 22 nominations, as well as an Academy Award nomination, two Golden Globe Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Outside of music, Saadiq also co-founded the independent video game developer IllFonic in 2007, which has developed Friday the 13th: The Game (2017), Predator: Hunting Grounds (2020) and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed (2022), among other titles.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Raphael Saadiq, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Sound

2025High Horse: The Black Cowboy...Original Music Composer
2025Sinners...Songs
2025Freaky Tales...Music Supervisor
2025Freaky Tales...Original Music Composer
2023Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur...Original Music Composer
2021The United States vs. Billie Holiday...Songs
2020Lovecraft Country...Original Music Composer
2019Queen & Slim...Songs
2019L.A.'s Finest...Original Music Composer
2017Mudbound...Songs
2017Step...Original Music Composer
2016Insecure...Original Music Composer
2016Underground...Original Music Composer
2013Black Nativity...Original Music Composer

Crew

2023Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur...Executive Music Producer
2020The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion...Executive Music Producer

Acting

2024Get Litas Player
2023Thriller 40as Self
2023The Legacy of J Dillaas Self - Producer, The Ummah
2019Raphael Saadiq - Baloise Session 2019as
2019Devil's Pie: D'Angeloas
2018A Legendary Christmas with John & Chrissyas Self
2016Marvel's Luke Cageas Raphael Saadiq
2014The Maya Rudolph Showas Self
2010Conanas Self - Musical Guest
2010Raphael Saadiq - Live in Parisas Vocals
2009Live From Bonnaroo 2009as Self
2009Live from the Artists Denas Self
2005Ride Sweet Die Slowas Charlie Ray
2004Michael Jackson: The Oneas Self
2003The Ellen DeGeneres Showas Self
2003Jimmy Kimmel Live!as Self - Musical Guest
1992The Tonight Show with Jay Lenoas
1992The Tonight Show with Jay Lenoas Self - Musical Guest
1959The Grammysas Self
1953The Oscarsas Self