CELEBRITY GALLERY - KEITH MARTIN

“Because of You” is Keith Martin’s so-called claim-to-fame. It is a nine-years-old composition, but it moves the listener just as much as it did back in 1995, when it was written and released. In fact, the song proves to be more potent and riveting than ever. Keith Martin fancies his music to be universal. The nine-year-old “Because of You,” still creating waves and raves, proves just that. Universal and timeless music. The Washington DC-born is an accomplished musician, playing the keyboards, the bass guitar, the drums, and percussions. But Keith cannot read a single musical note. His songs are driven by feel and instinct, and this is perhaps why his music remains as potent as ever. Growing up, the R&B singer listened to a lot of Boyz II Men, Brian McKnight, Glenn Louise, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, as well as Motown Great Stevie Wonder. He is also influenced by jazz and gospel music. Keith started writing music since he was 19 years old, and his love affair with it is showing no stopping.

Keith hung out a lot with musicians and songwriters, chief of them was Boyz II Men. In 1991, the vocal group and Keith joined MC Hammer’s tour. Seeing how prolific Keith is with his songwriting, Boyz Mike McCary finally brought Keith to Sony, where he eventually put out his first album, “It’s Long Overdue” in 1995. “It’s Long Overdue” contained, as its last track, the quiet little song that is “Because of You.” It is the opening track, “I’ll Never Find Someone Like You,” however that created enough stir to be included in the soundtrack of Bad Boys. He left Columbia and independently released a second album, “Validated.” In 2002, Keith’s little known song, “Because of You” silently hit Philippine radio and created a huge holler amongst the romantic Filipinos. Since then, the song never hit radio playlists and is a favorite cover song for local artists.

So big it was that Keith Martin became a household name in the country. He was even invited by a local apparel brand to headline their huge anniversary concert early this year and perform the song. He impressed everyone from the regular listener to Top Record Label executives so much that EMI Philippines finally made him a member of their local artist repertoire. He released a full-length album, “Love of My Life” last February, much to the delight of fans and listeners, who just can’t get enough of Keith Martin and his music. He has released three singles from the album already: the timeless favorite “Because of You,” the title track, “Love of My Life,” and “Coming Home.” Aside from performing, Keith Martin has also taken duties as producer and songwriter for some of the Philippines’ top local acts like Kyla, Arnee, and Rebeccah. He was recently tapped by the Department of Tourism as the official Spokesperson for the Philippines.

Up to his second serving with EMI Music, Keith’s latest collection of 13 heartwarming songs that will surely captivate you with a love’s spell with some of his remakes of the top hit making wonders in the music scene. His newest album is called “I’m not alone”. The album’s first single “I Don’t Wanna Think About It”, a pop-R&B song written by Shawn Stockman of the popular boy-group known by their soulful ballads, Boys II Men. In 1991, the vocal group and Keith joined MC Hammer’s tour. Seeing how prolific Keith is with his songwriting, Boyz Mike McCary finally brought Keith to Sony, where he eventually put out his first album, “It’s Long Overdue” in 1995. Remake and the album’s opening track is Now and Forever, written and popularized by Richard Marx who is also known by timeless heartfelt music like “Right Here Waiting.” Keith also graced a remake of “Why Can’t It Be?” of Rannie Raymundo’s hit in the 90s which was called as his second single.

Other collaborations in this album are personally written and produced by Keith himself with compositions of pure. Yet, Philippines isn’t just the home for Keith. His debut album “Love of My Life” was also released in Indonesia last August 2004 where his songs dominated the airwaves of Indonesia and made it possible to turn Gold. Now there are a lot reasons for Keith to stay in-love with the Asian music lovers and reasons for them to love back Keith’s music because Keith surely has a lot to offer. [aplus.co.id]

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