The TRAGIC Truth About R&B Group LeVert

[Music] oh baby whatever you like it's all right r b trio levert consisted of brothers gerald and sean levert and mark gordon the cleveland-based group heated up the charts in the 80s and 90s with memorable songs like casanova gerald's voice charisma and stage presence solidified levert's position as one of the most talented and entertaining groups in the industry after selling millions of records levert disbanded and each group member went on to work on solo projects they planned to reunite but back-to-back tragedies cut their plans short [Music] brothers gerald and sean levert were born into music royalty as the sons of the oj's front man eddie levert they grew up in ohio with their parents and eddie's eldest son eddie jr from a previous relationship gerald and sean hit the road with their dad whenever they had a break from school and life on the road was crazy especially for their dad eddie eddie told ebony magazine that he had someone on the road to watch the boys and put them to bed every night but the person he hired would always end up leaving them alone because of this gerald and sean were exposed to things no child should ever witness eddie said they saw me do some things they saw me out partying despite it all gerald told the la times that being on the road with his dad was when he realized he wanted to become a singer as teenagers the levert boys joined forces with their friend mark gordon who attended the same church after service they would go home and write songs eventually mark moved into their home in 1981 they formed the group levert gerald admitted sean didn't really want to be in the music industry but gerald pulled him in just a few years after forming their group their parents split up and eddie moved out of the family home in eddie and gerald's co-authored book entitled i got your back gerald said his mom was naive and didn't understand the temptation their dad faced while out on the road thankfully eddie was still in their lives as a parental figure when the three boys told him their dreams of becoming entertainers eddie was hesitant he told npr that his time in the industry was full of heartache and he didn't want his sons to go through the same thing despite warning them about the dangers of celebrity life eddie said gerald was desperate to become a star eddie eventually gave in and said okay man i'm going to help you do this gerald threw himself into making music and became a complete workaholic but even with eddie and the ojs in their corner levert didn't rely on them to get their career popping instead they spent many long days and sleepless nights in the levert family basement writing songs recording and practicing their dance moves they were turned down by every major record label because they sounded too much like the ojs gerald told the la times they eventually got signed to an independent label and released their debut album i get hot in 1985. the album didn't chart but once they performed their single i'm still on soul train they caught everyone's attention they left their independent label behind and signed with atlantic records sean said they were still so young and unprepared for what was in store they were spending a lot of time around older people in the industry and were thrown into quote mature situations they went straight to the studio and began recording their second album and things got a little tense sean said gerald would constantly get mad at him because they didn't share the same work ethic sean added it all goes back to the fact that at the time making music wasn't something i was ready to do sean stated he would leave the studio to go party and became addicted to substances he also began having unprotected intimacy with numerous partners they were able to finish up their 1986 album entitled bloodline and the album spawned the group's first major hit pop pop pop pop goes my mind the album reached number eight on the billboard top soul albums chart and was eventually certified gold in 1987 gerald and mark launched travel productions a songwriting and a music production company and things were still going well for levert as well their third album the big throwdown was released in 1987 and included the massively popular song casanova they received their first grammy nomination and took home several soul train awards the la times even announced levert is doing better than the ojs who haven't had a hit single since used to be my girl in 1978. with more success came more pressure and 21 year old gerald was already reaching his breaking point during a 1987 interview with the la times the reporter noted that gerald was half awake and was in desperate need of sleep gerald told the reporter somebody please take it save me from all these hassles being known is a pain i'd rather be unknown gerald told the reporter his father had warned him about fame but gerald didn't think it was going to be that bad he ended the interview by asking the reporter are you sure you don't want to switch jobs with me in his co-authored book gerald revealed their entire family depended on him and eddie financially and emotionally gerald said all he wanted was for someone to ask him how he was doing and how his health was instead of reaching out only when they needed something the album just coulon was released in 1988 and was certified gold to keep the momentum going levert released their fifth album robodope style in 1990 the album produced the number one hit single baby i'm ready it was at this time gerald decided to test the waters as a solo artist he released his debut album private line in 1991 which included a duet with his dad entitled baby hold on to me gerald teamed back up with levert in 1993 for their sixth album for real though and then came a little break mark moved to la and began writing and producing for other artists while shawn released a solo album in 1995 called the other side the album failed to match the commercial success levert and gerald experienced their cousin told cleveland.com sean was always trying to make a name for himself but would come up short in comparison to eddie and gerald gerald released the album's groove on and father and son which he recorded alongside his dad gerald also released the album love and consequences and teamed up with keith swett and johnny gill in 1997 to form r b super group lsg levert reunited and released the whole scenario in 1997 but the group was starting to implode in gerald and eddie's co-authored book it was revealed that gerald and mark were experiencing creative differences and the label was pushing gerald to go solo so levert disbanded for seven years they were able to patch things up and in 2004 they began working on ideas for their eighth album it was during this time when gerald's life was finally coming full circle he was the father of three children by three different women with his two eldest children being the same age in his co-authored book gerald said he was ready to settle down have more children and get married in november 2006 eddie and gerald traveled to south africa to perform eddie told ap news that while there gerald was bitten by something on his back and had to seek medical attention once they made it back to the u.s gerald began wheezing so he went to the doctor and was told everything was fine gerald headed back home and called his dad eddie said gerald was going off about something a family member had done eddie told ap news he didn't like talking to gerald when he was ranting and raving like that before hanging up the phone gerald told eddie to call him back eddie told ap news he wanted to give gerald a couple of days to cool off instead so he didn't bother to call him back that night eddie waited a couple of days and the next time his phone rang on november 10 2006 the person on the other end told him they found gerald unresponsive in his bed and they were rushing him to the hospital the next phone call delivered the terrible news that gerald had passed away at the age of 40. in their co-authored book eddie said he felt terrible that his son passed away without having a woman that he loved by his side eddie was also left with regret for not calling gerald back like he promised to he told the ap news i just pray that i'll get a chance to see him again and see that great big smile according to the washington post there were several pain pills and a mixture of anxiety medication in gerald's system it was also revealed gerald had pneumonia at the time of his passing and his death was listed as an accidental overdose months after his untimely passing his album in my songs was released the album won a grammy award and his brother sean and their mom martha were there to accept the honor on gerald's behalf mark and sean decided to continue on under the name levert ii they recruited a new member named black rose but before they could get things rolling sean was sentenced to one year and 10 months behind bars for failure to pay close to 90 000 in child support for three of his six children according to cleveland.com sean arrived at the county jail in march 2008 with a bottle of xanax to treat his anxiety the guards took the medication away upon his arrival a fellow inmate said sean was in high spirits but within hours he started sweating and began hallucinating he begged for his medication but the guards refused to give him any sean was eventually strapped into a restraint chair and when he stopped breathing he was transported to a hospital where he passed away at the age of 39. sean's cause of death was listed as complications from an inflammatory lung disease high blood pressure heart disease diabetes and withdrawal from xanax county prosecutors ruled there was no criminal wrongdoing but his wife filed a wrongful death suit and was awarded four million dollars eddie still deals with the pain of losing his sons he told ebony magazine he sometimes wonders if he did something wrong as a parent and maybe he shouldn't have taken them out on the road with him when they were younger mark and black rose honored the group's late members in the 2009 album entitled dedication they added a third member named paris smith and continued making music as levert ii however it now appears that harris is a member of rmb group as yet in 2020 ohio passed sean's law named after the late singer the law requires ohio's jail system to have protocols in place when admitting inmates who are at risk of withdrawal from substances the music world continues to mourn the talented levert brothers and when their mother martha passed away in january 2020 everyone's hearts broke even more for their family levert will be known as one of the biggest r b groups for many generations to come and although sean and gerald have transitioned their music and their voices will live on forever

Channel: RRG

Views: 741,993

Keywords: realrealitygossip, real reality gossip, levert, gerald levert, sean levert, marc gordon, blaq rose, parrice smith, levert 2, levert II, eddie levert, martha levert, the ojays, 80s r&b, 80s music, 90s music, gerald levert wife, gerald levert kids

Id: cycieJnxRWs

Length: 12min 37sec (757 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 02 2021