Kenny Thomas is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 singer

Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

.

Career

Thomas grew up on Hillside Estate in Stamford Hill

Stamford Hill

Stamford Hill is a place in the north of the London Borough of Hackney, England, near the border with Haringey. It is home to Europe's largest Hasidic Jewish and Adeni Jewish community.Stamford Hill is NNE of Charing Cross.-History:...

 and went to Cardinal Pole RC School

Cardinal Pole RC School

Cardinal Pole Catholic School is a mixed, voluntary aided secondary school in the London Borough of Hackney, United Kingdom. Year 7 and 8 pupils are housed in the Annexe in Victoria Park Road and pupils in Year 9 to 13 on the main site in Kenworthy Road. The school currently has approximately 1080...

 in Hackney . He was a boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 and a BT

BT Group

BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...

 technician before turning his hand to a singing career. His breakthrough came in 1991 with his debut hit

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

 "Outstanding

Outstanding

"Outstanding" is a song originally performed by The Gap Band and written by member Raymond Calhoun. The song originally appeared on the group's platinum-selling 1982 album Gap Band IV. It is one of their signature songs and biggest hits, reaching the number one spot on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart in...

", a cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of a Gap Band

Gap Band

The Gap Band was an American funk band, who rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. Comprising brothers Charlie, Ronnie and Robert Wilson, the band first formed as the Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street Band in 1967 in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The group shortened its name to The Gap Band...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

, which went to number 12 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. He placed another three singles in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 chart

Record chart

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

 that year including his biggest hit in the July "Thinking About Your Love", which peaked at number four and stayed on the chart for 13 weeks, and "Best Of You", which peaked at number 11 and was in the chart for 7 weeks. The former hit was produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by Tim Lever and Mike Percy formerly of the band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

, Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive (band)

Dead or Alive were a British New Wave band from Wirral, England, United Kingdom, Europe. The band rose to fame in the 1980s with their number one single on the UK Singles Chart, "You Spin Me Round ". They were the first group to have a number one single under the production team Stock Aitken Waterman...

. Thomas' debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 Voices (1991) made number three in the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

 and selling over 600,000 copies.

At the annual BRIT Awards

Brit Awards

The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...

, in February 1992 he was nominated for an award in two categories, Best British Male Vocalist and Best British Newcomer. His second album in 1993 Wait For Me produced by Ian Green and including contributions from Nu Colours and The Young Disciples, made number 10 in the album chart. The lead single from the album "Trippin On Your Love" originally recorded by The Staple Singers

The Staple Singers

The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...

 made number 17 in the singles chart. Two more singles from the album followed, both of which failed to make a big impact on the charts. The single "When I Think of You" was released in 1995, this was taken from his intended third album, which remained un-released due to a split with the record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

.

His career enjoyed a brief revival in 2005 when he took part in the televised singing contest on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

's Hit Me Baby One More Time

Hit Me Baby One More Time

Hit Me, Baby, One More Time was a 2005 reality show first aired by ITV on British television and later, as a new version, by NBC in the United States; both were presented by Vernon Kay. During each programme, five former pop stars sing their biggest hit along with a cover version of a contemporary...

. He was joined by other one time big pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 stars

Celebrity

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

 including Shakin' Stevens

Shakin' Stevens

Shakin' Stevens, also known as "Shaky" is a platinum selling Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter who holds the distinction of being the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s . His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although it was not until 1980 that he saw...

 and Shalamar

Shalamar

Shalamar was an American music group, primarily of the 1970s and 1980s, that was originally a disco-driven vehicle created by Soul Train booking agent Dick Griffey and show creator Don Cornelius. They went on to be an influential dance trio, masterminded by Soul Train producer Don Cornelius...

; the show was eventually won by Stevens.

Thomas supported Level 42

Level 42

Level 42 are an English pop rock and jazz-funk band who had a number of worldwide and UK hits during the 1980s and 1990s.The band gained fame for their high-calibre musicianship—in particular that of Mark King, whose percussive slap-bass guitar technique provided the driving groove of many of the...

 on their autumn 2006 tour of the UK. July 2006 also saw the release of a new studio album called Crazy World. In 2010, Thomas became a qualified acupuncturist, and he is releasing a new album, Breathe, in September 2011. Producers on the album include such UK-based studio-bods as Mark Jaimes & Danny Saxon, 5AM, Sir Piers and The Drizabone Soul Family.

Personal life

Kenny is married to the singer and songwriter Francisca Blasich and they have a daughter together called Angela.

Albums

• Voices (1991) UK
  UK Albums Chart
  The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
  
   #3
• Wait For Me (1993) UK #10
• The Best (1999)
• Greatest Hits (2001)
• Crazy World (2006)
• Breathe (2011)

Singles

• "Outstanding
  Outstanding
  "Outstanding" is a song originally performed by The Gap Band and written by member Raymond Calhoun. The song originally appeared on the group's platinum-selling 1982 album Gap Band IV. It is one of their signature songs and biggest hits, reaching the number one spot on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart in...
  
  " (1990)
• "Outstanding" (reissue) (1991) UK
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  #12
• "Thinking About Your Love" (1991) UK #4
• "Best Of You" (1991) UK #11
• "Tender Love" (1991) UK #26
• "Stay" (1993) UK #22
• "Trippin' On Your Love" (1993) UK #17
• "Piece By Piece" (1993) UK #36
• "Destiny" (1994) UK #59
• "When I Think Of You" (1995) UK #27
• "Crazy World" (2006)
• "The Show Is Over" (2011)