15 R&B Crooners To Get You In The Valentine's Day Spirit

Usher

Signature crooner hit: “Nice & Slow”

Now who wouldn’t take it nice and slow with U-S-H-E-R R-A-Y-M-O-N-D. Now baby tell him what you want to do with him. After “You Make Me Wanna…” became his first hit, this became his first of many number ONE pop hits. Watch the music video here and reminisce.

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Luther Vandross

Signature Crooner Hit: “Here and Now”

He might not be as appealing on the eyes as other crooners, but that velvet voice! His voice alone made him the quintessential crooner. He has many hit love songs and slow jams to choose from, but this is one of his best.

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Brian McKnight

Signature Crooner Hit: “Back at One”

Talk about having a pool of slow jams and the smoothest R&B voice there is. That’s McKnight — the perfect name for a R&B crooner… “knight.” He might have jumped off the deep end in a misogynistic way — vulgarly talking about showing women how their vaginas work, but in the 90s he was R&B’s knight.

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Gerald Levert

Signature Crooner Hit: “Baby Hold On To Me”

His signature hit actually features his father, the legendary Eddie Levert of the O’Jays and in a non-creepy way. But you can see who he gets his crooning ways from. He would also join other male vocalists — getting his start in the group Levert and then after a successful solo career in LSG with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill. He became 90s teddy-bear crooner. If it wasn’t coined then, it is now.

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Teddy Pendergrass

Signature Crooner Hit: “Turn Off The Lights”

Now he was about real baby-making music. Many of us were made off this song in particular. It’s true. That might be why so many women have stuck up for him when it came to those gay rumors.
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Tyrese

Signature Crooner Hit: “Sweet Lady”

This singer turned actor actually wants to play his crooner idol Teddy Pendergrass in a biopic. But Tyrese hasn’t only made a name for himself in movies like the Transformers and The Fast and the Furious series. He’s actually quite vocally talented himself. And “Sweet Lady” was his first major hit.
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Boyz II Men

Signature Crooner Hit: “I’ll Make Love To You”

They might not have been pretty boys or had rock hard bodies, but those voices though! Those harmonies produced MANY chart-topping and record breaking hits. Need I say more?

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Keith Sweat

Signature Crooner Hit: “Nobody”

I can’t imagine how many people got pregnant off of this song and Sweat’s music in general. No, but seriously. I guess the song serves that purpose of making babies.

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New Edition

Signature Crooner Hit: “Can You Stand The Rain?”

They have been successful crooners with solo careers, but it’s something about seeing ALL six of them together… Still, one of their best hits came when Bobby Brown was embarking on a successful solo career and Johnny Gill replaced him and helped produce this gem.

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Trey Songz

Signature Crooner Hit: “Can’t Help but Wait”

This song might have came out pre-Ready when Songz changed into a more sex-driven crooner over hip-hop beats — producing many hits, but this song shows his sappy R&B side.

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Maxwell

Signature Crooner Hit: “Fortunate”

We were “fortunate” to have Maxwell to bring crooning within the neo soul sub-genre of contemporary R&B. Like, we were very fortunate.
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Jodeci

Signature Crooner Hit: “Forever My Lady”

They’re definitely one of the quintessential  R&B groups. They were feening and crying for their women, but their greatest hit was definitely “Forever My Lady” — it’s forever their number one after falling off in the late 90s.
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Joe

Signature Crooner Hit: “I Wanna Know”

He was leading the pack of many crooners going into the new millennium and he has the hits to prove it. He definitely knows what the ladies like.
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Marvin Gaye

Signature Crooner Hit: “Let’s Get It On”

Gaye was crooning back when our parents were kids or before they were born — breaking down musical barriers as one of Motown’s most legendary artists. After the death of his duet partner, Tammi Terrell, he fell off for a minute. After returning with the conceptual album, What’s Going On,  he was crooning again with Let’s Get It On and again a decade later with Midnight Love, the album that featured songs like “Sexual Healing.”
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R. Kelly

Signature Crooner Hit: “Bump N’ Grind”

Does being the King of R&B make you King of Crooning? Possibly so. R. Kelly definitely led the pack in defining 90s contemporary R&B music and the crooners that surfaced after this major number one R&B and pop hit.

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