Maxwell is the stage name of Gerald Maxwell Rivera. He is African American singer and songwriter, actor and record producer. Together with Erykah Badu and D’Angelo, they are known to help in shaping the neo soul movement which became famous in the 1990s. He was born in 1973.
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Maxwell was born in the city of Brooklyn of New York. He is the son of Puerto Rican father and a Haitian mother. The mother grew up as devout Baptist in Haiti. His father died because of the plane crash when he was at the age of only three years old. This experience made him to be too religious and he was singing in Choir as a young boy. His parents had no other children so, he has no siblings.
When he got a Casio Keyboard given by a friend, this New York native started to compose the music. He was raised in the east New York section of Borough and the musical experience he was singing at the church and it became integral part of his biography after his father died. As the fan of the Jheri Curl Soul of that time, he started to learn about different instruments.
As he says, this is a genre of music that got lost because of R&B and Hip Hop. Even if he was facing problems since he was awkward and shy, he continued with his career and improved his musical capacity. He adopted also a look of the Bohemian style outwardly by growing longer sideburns and clothing. This let the hair to grow wildly and he combed it in the extreme style. He was also putting this long hair into dreads.
At the beginning, he was influenced by the R&B and he progressed faster and by 1991, he was already performing on New York City Club Scene. He gained the access of 24 track recording studio and this is where he started to record songs to show on the Demo tape and he gave it to his friends. This demo made some people interested and the debut concert that took place in Manhattan Nightclub called Neil, it brought out a crowd.
In two years, he recorded and wrote around three songs and he was playing on small venues in New York. He continued to draw the interest and it increased the Buzz around him. This is when he was called The Next Prince by the writer of the Vibe who was on his show. His performance brought him reputation and he got a recording contract under Columbia Records in the year 1994. He decided to use the middle name as the moniker so that he can ensure the privacy of his family.
When it comes to his education, he attended Downside School. His twitter account is @_Maxwell_, his Instagram is @maxwell, and his net worth is 10 million dollars. He has been in controversy for dating only white girls.
Last Modified: Mar 8, 2020
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