Born & Raised:

Born: July 22, 1961 in Harlem, New York.
Raised in New York.

Early Life:

Keith Sweat was born and raised the third of five children in New York City's legendary Harlem neighborhood. He began performing in nightclubs at the age of 14 and was also in a band called Jamilah. Throughout his teens and early 20s, he balanced his singing career with school. Eventually he graduated from City College of the City University of New York with degree in communications, and worked his way up from the mailroom to a position as a brokerage assistant in a Wall Street firm.

But despite his successful career on Wall Street, Keith continued to pursue his dream of a different career - one as a singer.

Early Career:

While working on Wall Street, Keith continued to pour much of his time and income into writing and recording his own music and selling his songs to record labels for other artists to sing. When that didn't prove fruitful, he decided to sing and record his own songs. He submitted a demo tape to Vintertainment Recordings president Vincent Davis, who signed him to the label. Keith then began working on his debut album while keeping his Wall Street job as a safety net. During the making of the album, Keith was breaking up with his girlfriend, something which influenced the resulting album, Make It Last Forever.

Music Stardom:

Make It Last Forever was a huge hit upon it's release in November 1987. It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's R&B albums chart and No. 5 on the overall albums chart. It also spawned three hit R&B singles, "I Want Her," "Something Just Ain't Right," and the title track.

The album, which was co-produced by Teddy Riley, helped usher in the new jack swing sound, which Teddy later became very famous for. Make It Last Forever was by far his biggest-selling album, but over the next 21 years, Keith released eight more studio albums and two live albums. He still actively records and releases music.

Other Projects:

In the mid-1990s, he formed the supergroup LSG with singers Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill LSG stand for Levert, Sweat, Gill). The trio's 1997 debut album sold over three million copies. Keith has also discovered and helped produce the music of three R&B groups: Silk, Kut Klose and Ol' School, all of which were popular in the 1990s, but have since broken up. In recent years, Keith has hosted the "Keith Sweat Hotel" and "New York Quiet Storm" shows on radio station WBLS, and mentored the vocal group Dru Hill during the 2010 reality series "Keith Sweat's Platinum House."

Solo Discography:

2010: Ridin' Solo
2008: Just Me
2007: Sweat Hotel Live
2003: Keith Sweat Live
2002: Rebirth
2000: Didn't Me Coming
1998: Still in the Game
1996: Keith Sweat
1994: Get Up On It
1991: Keep It Comin'
1990: I'll Give All My Love to You
1987: Make It Last Forever