Glenn Lewis

Hailing from Kitchener, Ontario but raised in Toronto, Glennon Ricketts Jr. (born on March 13th, 1975) opted for the stage name Glenn Lewis so as not to be confused with his Jamaican father, who was himself a successful musician as the frontman of the pioneering ‘70s R&B/funk band Crack of Dawn. First honing his craft during his teens, the Canadian neo-soul singer had an early taste of success after winning his high school talent contest with a Stevie Wonder cover. After recording a plethora of original demos in his early adulthood with future hitmaker and South Rakkas Crew producer Alex G, Ricketts sealed a deal with Beat Factory/BMG. His debut single “The Thing to Do” landed in 1997, with a follow-up, the 2Rude-produced “Bout Your Love”, arriving the following year. By 1999, he had teamed up with hip-hop collective Baby Blue Soundcrew for the single “Only Be in Love”. All three songs received Juno Award nominations in their respective release years, prompting Sony subsidiary Epic Records to offer Ricketts a record deal. After several years of hunkering down in the studio, he reemerged with a debut album, 2002’s World Outside My Window, which reached number four on the Billboard 200 and also spawned the Billboard #30 hit “Don’t You Forget It”. Despite his sophomore album being abandoned by his label the following year, Ricketts nonetheless enjoyed a career highlight in 2003, receiving a GRAMMY nomination for his songwriting work on Stanley Clarke’s “Where Is the Love”. After a decade of enduring industry politics, he returned with a less successful sophomore album, Moment of Truth, in 2013. A concept album with DJ Jazzy Jeff entitled Chasing Goosebumps followed in 2017, with all tracks on the project recorded and engineered in a single week.

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