Leroy Burgess

Leroy O'Neil Jackson Jr. (born 20 August 1953; New York City, New York), known by his stage name Leroy Burgess, is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard player, recording artist, arranger and record producer.

A defining voice of 1970s soul balladry and, later, of the disco, boogie and proto-house movements, Burgess has spent over five decades shaping the sound of New York's underground dance music scene.
 

Early Life

Burgess was raised in Harlem, one of seven children. His mother, Myrtle Bell Burgess, a classically trained contralto, initially disapproved of his ambitions to become a musician, while his stepfather, Morgan Burgess, quietly supported him. Music ran deep in the family: Burgess's Bell lineage connects him to Kool & The Gang's Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (Khalis Bayyan), Kay-Gees member Amir Bayyan (Kevin Bell), Philadelphia soul composer and producer Thom Bell, singer Archie Bell, singer Betty Wright, and former Stax/Volt president Al Bell. In the late 1960s, as a teenager, he began performing around New York City in a vocal group called the Mellow Sounds alongside Stuart Bascombe and Russell Patterson.

Career

The trio was discovered by songwriter, arranger and producer Patrick Adams, who renamed the group Black Ivory and signed them, in 1970, to the East Coast label Today/Perception, where Adams served as both A&R director and the band's manager. Burgess, who made his debut with the group at sixteen, became lead vocalist on the majority of its hits and a frequent co-writer with Adams.

Black Ivory's debut album, "Don't Turn Around", reached the top 20 of the Billboard R&B albums chart, and produced a run of soul singles including "Don't Turn Around", "You and I" (co-written by Burgess and Bascombe), "I'll Find a Way (The Loneliest Man in Town)", "Time Is Love", "Spinning Around", "What Goes Around (Comes Around)" and "Will We Ever Come Together".

Burgess left the group in 1977, shortly after writing the dance classic "Mainline", which was recorded and released under Russell Patterson's lead vocal after his departure. He went on to found the groups Convertion and LOGG, the latter's self-titled 1981 Salsoul Records album, featuring the track "I Know You Will", coming to be regarded as a landmark of the boogie and proto-house sound; the track was later remixed by Larry Levan.

Burgess subsequently joined twin producers TaharQa and TundeRa Aleem as lead vocalist of Aleem, recording R&B hits including "Love's on Fire" (1986), "Confusion", "Release Yourself" and the well-received 1991 single "Running After You". Throughout the 1980s, he continued his collaboration with Patrick Adams as featured vocalist across a string of studio projects, including Bumble Bee Unlimited, Inner Life (alongside Jocelyn Brown), the Universal Robot Band, the Peter Jacques Band, Dazzle and M.O.D.E. (on "Heaven"), and provided lead vocals on Phreek's "Much Too Much".

As a songwriter and producer, he wrote "Big Time" for Rick James and co-wrote and performed on Fonda Rae's hit "Over Like a Fat Rat", produced by Bob Blank. In 2017, a remix by Louie Vega of the LOGG track "I Know You Will," featured on Vega's album Starring XXVIII, earned Burgess a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance/Electronic Album, and Vega invited him to attend the ceremony.

Personal Life

Public information regarding Burgess's family life beyond his professional musical relations is limited. He has spoken publicly about the influence of his mother's classical training and his family's spiritual, church-rooted musical background on his development as a vocalist.

Widely credited as "the patron saint of Boogie", his catalogue, both under his own name and through his many pseudonymous projects, has been extensively sampled by hip-hop artists including Q-Tip, Raekwon, Nas and 9th Wonder, cementing his influence across multiple generations of dance and popular music.
 

Current Activities

Burgess remains an active touring artist, with confirmed tour dates through 2026 and 2027, including an appearance at the We Out Here Festival. Black Ivory, the group with which he first made his name, was inducted into the Atlantic City Walk of Fame at Brighton Park on 27 April 2026.