Shawn Patrick Stockman is an American R&B

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 singer, best known as a member of the vocal group Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men

Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...

. He is also a judge on the television show The Sing-Off

The Sing-Off

The Sing-Off is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It premiered on NBC on December 14, 2009, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television....

, alongside Sara Bareilles

Sara Bareilles

Sara Beth Bareilles is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She achieved mainstream success in 2007 with the hit single "Love Song", which brought her into the number one spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart. She has sold over 1 million records in the United States alone and has been...

 and Ben Folds

Ben Folds

Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...

.

Stockman recorded a solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 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...

 as a side project during the late 1990s, but the LP

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 was never released. He has written the songs "Forever", "Hot Thing", and "Let It Go"; the latter of which was played during the Disney

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 movie

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Seventeen Again

Seventeen Again

Seventeen Again is a fantasy–comedy film. It first aired on Showtime on November 12, 2000, and was released on DVD on April 9, 2002. The films stars Sister Sisters Tia & Tamera, and their brother Tahj Mowry from Smart Guy.-Plot:...

.

Shawn wrote

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and sang the 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...

 "Visions of a Sunset" for the Mr. Holland's Opus

Mr. Holland's Opus

Mr. Holland's Opus is a 1995 American drama film directed by Stephen Herek, produced by Ted Field, Robert W. Cort, and Michael Nolin, and Executive Produced by Patrick Sheane Duncan. It stars Richard Dreyfuss in the title role, and the cast includes Glenne Headly, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy...

 film soundtrack

Soundtrack

A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

. He got his singing start with the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale

Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale

Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale is a boys' choir and mens chorale based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, currently under the direction of Jeffery R. Smith. They are known as "America's Ambassadors of Song" and are considered to be one of the best boys choirs in the world...

 at the age of 8.

Most recently, Stockman started his own 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,...

 called Soul Chemistry Projects. It was hoped that his ability to find and groom new talent will launch the label to success, although none of his charges has scored a major distribution deal

Distribution deal

A distribution deal is a legal agreement between one party and another, to handle distribution of a product....

. He also opened a small recording studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

 in Toledo, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

, his wife's hometown.

Whilst many people may be expecting the label to have a smooth R&B feel reflecting Boyz II Men's style, the talent may prove otherwise. It currently has hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 and R&B artists signed, but Stockman says he does not put musical limits on who can and can not be signed. Shawn says that he is a musician and likes all genres of music.

He is married to Sharonda Jones and together they have twin boys who were born in 2003.

Most recently, he's recorded a cover of Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé Knowles

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...

' hit song "If I Were a Boy

If I Were a Boy

"If I Were a Boy" is a pop song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. It was composed by Toby Gad and BC Jean. Jean initially recorded her version of the song which was rejected by Jean's record company. Knowles then recorded a new version for her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce...

".

Shawn has been serving as a judge along with Ben Folds and Sara Bareilles on NBC's "The Sing Off" with host Nick Lachey. The show first premiered on December 14, 2009, the second season premiered on December 6, 2010, and the third season winner was announced on November 28, 2011.

External links

• Boyz II Men Official website
• [ Shawn Stockman] at Allmusic