Johnny Gill

When he scored his first of eight Top Ten R&B singles in 1984 with the Stacy Lattisaw duet "Perfect Combination," Johnny Gill sounded less like a teenager than he did a mature contemporary of Peabo Bryson and James Ingram. Although the ballad didn't necessarily jump-start the singer commercially, he was added to the lineup of New Edition in time to record the multi-platinum Heart Break (1988), which broadened his audience. This soon led to a true solo breakthrough with Johnny Gill (1990), a platinum and Grammy-nominated hit perfectly coordinated with the commercial peak of new...