Seal, Macy Gray
July 20, Ovation Hall
Seal brings his Soul 2 Tour with Macy Gray to Ovation Hall on Friday, July 20, 8pm. Tickets are $65 and $85. One of the most popular British vocalists of the 1990s, Seal found stardom in the U.S. with the hit singles “Prayer for the Dying” and “Kiss from a Rose,” the latter on the Batman Forever soundtrack as well as Seal’s second self-titled album. His current release is Soul 2, a collection of classic soul standards and follow-up to his 2008 release Soul.
Distinctive R&B chanteuse Macy Gray broke as an artist with the Grammy winning single “I’ll Try.” Her current album is Covered, featuring songs by Metallica, My Chemical Romance, and Kanye West.
Seal, the British-born singer-songwriter of Brazilian and Nigerian heritage, burst on the music scene in 1991 with a self-titled album that presented a unique fusion of soul, folk, pop, dance and rock, and immediately brought him success on both sides of the Atlantic. Although he's only released three albums since -- six, if you count two live recordings and a 2004 hits collection -- Seal continues to attract a large and intensely loyal international following.
Local fans can check out the Grammy-award-winning artist, and hear new music from Seal's upcoming album when he performs at the Borgata Music Box on Friday, May 18.
Despite his relatively sparse recording output, the 44-year-old singer, whose real name is Sealhenry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, has managed to remain in the public eye. He's released enough new music to remind listeners of his distinctive soulful voice, including a Grammy-nominated cover of Burt Bacharach's "Walk On By" on Best 1991 - 2004, and the song, "A Father's Way" (from the film The Pursuit of Happyness), which received a 2006 Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song.
With a lean, muscular 6'4" frame, Seal's sheer physical presence has always been enough for him to garner media attention. Growing up in the image-conscious MTV era, Seal has been savvy enough to take advantage of it. He might have gone into modeling, but was initially discouraged by the facial scars he carries as a result of a childhood bout with lupus. But when he decided on a performing career, Seal became convinced that the half-moon scars under his eyes were an omen of future stardom.
"I got really depressed about [the scars] at first, as you can understand," he said in an interview with Rob Tannenbaum of Rolling Stone magazine. "Now I really like them. If I could...
