Jeffrey
Osborne was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island. Osborne was an integral part of the local music scene when he started singing and playing drums in any number of local bands. Then, in 1970, he
was offered the opportunity to join LTD. Osborne was recruited after the original drummer was dragged off to jail for fighting! After a period of 12 years with LTD Jeffrey took on a solo career. To help
him shape a sound of his own he turned to George Duke. To Osborne, it was important to make his solo debut with an uptempo song. Even though he'd just finished fronting a band capable of both funk and ballads, the image of Osborne solely as a balladeer threatened to stick. The duo remedied this with the sleek and aggressive I really don't need no light. The song reached No.3 on the R&B charts. Inspired by the success of his first solo album they went on working together on the 1983-released Don't you get so mad. After 2 more solo albums and working with Joyce Kennedy and Dione Warwick, Jeffrey did some TV, toured around the country and sang 'the hell out' of The Starspangled Banner at the 1987 NBA-All Star game in Seattle. The, in 1988 released One love - One dream album, gave Osborne his first No.1 as a solo artist with She's on the left. In 1990 Osborne signed to Arista. This new union was to be bittersweet. While Only human yielded a No.3 R&B hit with it's title track, the song never even entered the pop chart, with the LP itself stalling at a disappointing No.95. In the year 2000 That's for sure was released followed by a live recording from the BET Jazz-channel released on DVD.
