Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel (born 19 February 1963) is a British vocalist, composer, and music producer. He has garnered three Brit Awards, four Grammy Awards, and an MTV Video Music Award, with total album or single sales reaching 20 million by October 2011. Seal signed with record producer Trevor Horn’s ZTT Records to launch his self-titled debut studio album in 1991. The album achieved both critical and commercial acclaim, yielding the singles “Crazy” and “Killer,” which reached numbers two and one, respectively, on the UK singles chart and both made their way onto the US Billboard Hot 100. His 1994 single “Kiss from a Rose” topped the latter chart after being featured on the soundtracks for The NeverEnding Story III and Batman Forever.
“Kiss from a Rose” originated from Seal’s second self-titled studio album, released in 1994, which also topped the UK Albums Chart alongside its predecessor. His subsequent albums—Human Being (1998), Seal IV (2003), System (2007), Soul (2008), Seal 6: Commitment (2010), Soul 2 (2011), 7 (2015), and Standards (2017)—received widespread acclaim. As a lyricist, Seal has been awarded two Ivor Novello Awards for “Best Song Musically and Lyrically” by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for “Killer” and “Crazy.”
He participated as a coach on The Voice Australia in 2012 and 2013 and returned to Australia to coach again in 2017.
Early Life and Education
Seal was born on 19 February 1963 at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, to a Nigerian mother, Adebisi Ogundeji, and an Afro-Brazilian father, Francis Samuel. He was brought up by a foster family in Westminster, London. He obtained a two-year diploma in architecture and worked various jobs in the London area.
Career
Early Career
During the 1980s, Seal spent a brief period performing in local clubs and bars. In 1987, he joined Push, a British funk band, and toured with them in Japan. In Thailand, he played with a blues band for a while before parting ways and traveling independently throughout India. He returned to England, staying on the couch of his friend Julian Bunster, a model. He often asked, “Do I sing well?” to which he frequently received feedback that he surpassed most current artists. Eventually, he met producer Adamski, who invited Seal to provide lyrics and vocals for the single “Killer.”
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