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Chester Jermaine "Lyfe" Jennings (born June 3, 1978)[1] is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. He plays the guitar, bass, and piano which he integrates into his music. The New York Times referred to him as a "socially minded R&B singer".[2]

Lyfe Jennings
Lyfe Jennings performing "Cry" live at Howard Theatre
Background information
Birth name	Chester Jermaine Jennings
Born	(1978-06-03) June 3, 1978 (age 44)
Origin	Toledo, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	R&B, soul
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, record producer, instrumentalist
Instrument(s)	Guitar, bass, piano
Years active	2002–present
Labels	E1 Sony RED Warner Asylum Music World Columbia Sony Urban Music

Biography

Lyfe Jennings was born on June 3, 1978 in Toledo, Ohio to a working-class family and was the middle of five kids. As stated in "Ghetto Superman" and "More Than A Girl" from The Phoenix, Lyfe lost his father at a young age. When he was a teenager, Lyfe Jennings started to perform with the group called "The Dotsons". "The Dotsons" consisted of himself, his brother, and two cousins. In the beginning of the 1990s, however, the band disbanded. During this time, Lyfe began to get into legal trouble and his musical career came to a halt when he was sent to prison at the age of 14. He encountered notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer while in prison, whom he would sing to.[3][4]

Career

2002-2005

In 2002, after serving 10 years in prison, Lyfe returned to his musical aspirations. Two days after his December 2002 release from prison, he recorded a four-song demo CD. A month after that LP was released, he performed at The Apollo.[2] He was booed as he walked onto the stage, but when the Apollo audience heard his gritty falsetto and lyrical songwriting, they were swayed to the tune of five amateur-night victories in a row. Lyfe sold about 1,000 copies of his four-song demo CD during his Apollo "residency." His growing success influenced Lyfe to move to New York City and pursue a major-label deal. Columbia Records provided him with a contract and released his debut, Lyfe 268-192 in August 2004. A year after its original release, the album was reissued with a new version of "Hypothetically" added as bonus track featuring American Idol winner, Fantasia.

2005-2013

Lyfe released a more hip-hop-oriented follow-up The Phoenix arrived in August 2006, with Three 6 Mafia and Young Buck making guest appearances. Lyfe Change released in April 2008, featuring a handful of new production associates as well as a verse from T.I. Jennings. Subsequently, Lyfe accepted a new deal with Warner Bros. and began working on another album, tentatively titled Sooner or Later, which he stated would be his last. The album was finally released in August 2010 and featured guest spots from Bryan-Michael Cox, Warryn Campbell, Fabolous, Bobby Valentino, Ludacris, Anthony Hamilton, and Jazmine Sullivan. Lyfe completed another prison stint for his actions stemming from a 2008 domestic dispute.

2013-Present

He returned to music in October 2013 with Lucid, released on the Mass Appeal label. Like all of his previous studio releases, it peaked in the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B chart. Tree of Lyfe, recorded primarily in his home studio, followed in June 2015.[5][6][7] On his new album, Tree of Lyfe, Lyfe Jennings describes it as his most personal work to date and produced the majority of the album at his home studio in Greenwood, Mississippi . When asked about his current musical mindset, Lyfe Jennings response is one of reflection and experience, "Everybody feels like they have to reinvent themselves. I don’t think you can reinvent the truth. It is what it is. I’m not focused on reinvention. I want to go deeper. This album reaffirms the reasons why people started loving this music in the first place."[8][9]

Personal life

The reference to the numbers "268-192" in the title of his debut album represents the identification number he was given while incarcerated. Then Lyfe appeared on Showtime at the Apollo.

Sons Phoenix (born 2005) and Elijah (born 2006) with Joy Bounds, son Lyfe (born 2011) with a woman named Marquita, son Knoah (born 2016) with India Mendoza, and two other children, who were born in April 2018, several days apart, whose names and the names of their mothers have not been made public.[10][11][12][13][14] Jennings was previously engaged to Bounds, the mother of his two oldest children.

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, in October 2008 after arguing with Joy Bounds, he followed her to her family's house in Smyrna, Georgia. At the residence, he destroyed the door, fired shots in the street, and then led police on a 90 mph chase that ended when he crashed his 2005 Corvette. In September 2010 he was sentenced to three and a half years after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges arising from the incident.[15][16] On February 2, 2016, he married Gwendolyn Scharkowski, a German model and has a son named Iam. On March 15, 2016, Gwendolyn filed from divorce from him.[17]

Discography

Studio albums

• Lyfe 268‒192 (2004)
• The Phoenix (2006)
• Lyfe Change (2008)
• I Still Believe (2010)
• Lucid (2013)
• Tree of Lyfe (2015)
• 777 (2019)

References

External links

• Official site
• Lyfe's Yahoo! Music profile
• Lyfe's VH1 Profile

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