Frankie Beverly, a singer, musician, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band, started out singing gospel music in church. His first professional concert was a tour with The Silhouettes (famous for their 1958 hit single, "Get a Job”) when he was only 12 years old. As a teenager, he formed The Blenders, that eventually caught the attention of the record producer Kenny Gamble, who produced and released recordings by the group. But his real break came when he was discovered in the Bay Area of San Francisco in the mid 70’s by Marvin Gaye, who then renamed his group, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, and the rest is history.In 2024, Beverly was honored as part of the Urban One Honors celebration on TVOne, and had a street renamed in his honor in his native Germantown. Beverly passed away on Sept 10, 2024…and posthumously received a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Grammy Awards celebration two weeks ago.
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