Anthony Hamilton

Anthony Cornelius Hamilton (born 28 January 1971; Charlotte, North Carolina, United States) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer, celebrated as one of contemporary soul and R&B's most distinctive voices, known for a gritty, gospel-rooted delivery that has carried him from a shelved 1990s debut to a career spanning more than a dozen albums and seventeen Grammy Award nominations.

Early Life

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Hamilton began singing in his church choir at the age of ten and went on to perform with the award-winning choir at South Mecklenburg High School, directed by Mark Setzer. In 1992, he met producer Mark Sparks, who encouraged him to leave Charlotte for New York City, where he signed with Andre Harrell's Uptown Records, an imprint of MCA Records. In 1996, he recorded his intended debut album, XTC, for MCA, but the record was ultimately shelved after its lead singles failed to chart, delaying his formal recording debut by several years.

Career

Before his own breakthrough, Hamilton built a reputation as a collaborator and background vocalist, co-writing the 1999 hit "U Know What's Up" for singer Donell Jones and touring internationally in 2000 as a backing vocalist on D'Angelo's Voodoo tour.

Mainstream recognition arrived in 2002 through his guest vocal on the chorus of Nappy Roots' single "Po' Folks", which reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and led to Hamilton signing with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings, an imprint of Arista Records. He went on to collaborate with Nappy Roots on further tracks including "Sick & Tired", "Push On" and "Organic" from their 2003 album Wooden Leather, and later "Down N' Out" from 2008's The Humdinger, and appeared alongside the group on Mark Ronson's 2003 track "Bluegrass Stain'd". That same period saw Hamilton guest on the posthumous Tupac Shakur album Better Dayz (2002) and on a version of "Kwah/Home" from the RH Factor's Hard Groove (2003).

His proper studio debut, Comin' from Where I'm From (2003), was certified platinum by the RIAA, earned four Grammy nominations, and produced the hit single "Charlene", which reached number 19 on the Hot 100; he also earned a further Grammy nomination that year for his guest verse on Jadakiss's "Why", which peaked at number 11 on the Hot 100.

His compilation Soulife, drawn from material recorded years earlier for the short-lived Soulife Records, followed in 2005, and his third studio album, Ain't Nobody Worryin', was released that December, earning gold certification. In 2005, he also contributed vocals to a cover of Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" on blues guitarist Buddy Guy's album Bring 'Em In, and in 2006 he won the BET J "Cool Like Dat" Award and appeared as a musical guest on Chappelle's Show.

His fourth album, The Point of It All (2008), reached the top 20 of the Billboard 200 and was also certified gold; that year he also made a cameo appearance in the film American Gangster, to whose soundtrack he contributed, and was featured on Jeezy's chart-topping album The Recession.

Hamilton then left So So Def for RCA Records, releasing Back to Love (2011) and What I'm Feelin' (2016), the latter featuring guitarists Gary Clark Jr. and Vince Gill and his touring backing vocalists, the HamilTones. In between, he featured on Jill Scott's 2011 single "So In Love", which spent nineteen weeks atop the Urban Adult Contemporary chart, and in 2012 guested on Big K.R.I.T.'s Live from the Underground and Nas's chart-topping Life Is Good, the same year he co-wrote and performed "Freedom" with singer Elayna Boynton for the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained.

In 2015, he made a memorable cameo on the Fox television series Empire, performing "The Point of It All" during a pivotal proposal scene, and in February 2016 he sang a tribute to Ray Charles at the final "In Performance at the White House" hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. In 2017, he lent his voice to "Carnival" on the virtual band Gorillaz's album Humanz. In May 2020, he released "Back Together", a duet-style single built around a vault sample of the late Rick James's "Fire and Desire", flipped by producer 9th Wonder; the track served as the lead single from his seventh studio album, Love Is the New Black (2021), released on his own label, My Music Box, in partnership with BMG. In August 2025, he released Pages, a collaborative album blending spoken word and song with actor Omari Hardwick.
 

Personal Life

Hamilton has six sons. He began dating background vocalist Tarsha McMillan in 2003 and married her in 2005; the couple welcomed twin sons in November 2010 and another son in 2012, before announcing their divorce in June 2015 after a decade of marriage.

Beyond his music, Hamilton has spoken publicly about using his platform to address issues of racial injustice, describing his approach as drawing on conversation with community voices to inform songs addressing themes of struggle and hope.

His fusion of Southern gospel, soul and hip hop has made him one of the most consistently honoured artists of his generation, with a single Grammy Award win for "You've Got the Love I Need" with Al Green in 2009, arriving among a total of seventeen nominations spanning two decades.
 

Current Activities

Hamilton continues to tour extensively across the United States, including a run of co-headline dates with Fantasia and further shows alongside Musiq Soulchild, with performances scheduled into the second half of 2026.