R&B Yearbook



Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), professionally known as Lemar, is a British Soul and R&B Singer, Songwriter and Vocal Producer who has had a run of chart success in the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. Lemar was born in London to Nigerian (Igbo) parents, and was raised in Tottenham, London, listening to Soul Music and R&B. He used to sing at home with his brothers and sister, pretending to be The Jacksons. He was seventeen when he had his first concert at the Junior Jam at the Temple in Tottenham supporting Usher. He gave up an opportunity to study pharmacy at the Cardiff University to pursue a musical career. Lemar had some success supporting various artists such as Destiny's Child, Total, Uncle Sam and Usher Raymond on their UK club tours and after some years, managed to secure a recording contract with BMG. Following this, he released his debut single Got Me Saying Ooh in 2001. Unfortunately his record deal with BMG fell through in less than a year due to restructuring at the record label. He had to eventually take a job working as an accounts manager at NatWest in Enfield, north London. Lemar's second single Dance (With U) reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in early 2003. His first album Dedicated was released late in 2003 with additional singles 50/50 and Another Day also achieving chart success in the UK. Lemar won a BRIT Award for Best Urban Act in 2004. Following the success of the album, he commenced his first headlining tour of the UK. On the 12th of November 2004 Lemar guested on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge and performed a cover of U2's song Vertigo. He has also performed for Prince Charles' Prince's Trust. 4 September 2006 saw Lemar return with his eighth single, entitled It's Not That Easy, which became his sixth UK top ten hit. A week later his new album The Truth About Love was released, which saw guest appearances from Styles P from The L.O.X., Mica Paris and Joss Stone. The album became Lemar's highest charting album to date, peaking at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Lemar's 4th studio album The Reason is set for release on November 24th 2008. While the first single of the album will be called If She Knew released on 10th November 2008. Also the video has been released too. Lemar featured on Sway's first single Saturday Night Hustle from the album The Signature LP. Lemar's fourth studio album The Reason was released on 24 November 2008, entering the UK Albums Chart at No. 41. Lead single If She Knew was released on 10 November 2008, and peaked on the UK Singles Chart at No. 14. Lemar performed his new single “The Way Love Goes” on the BBC1 show “So You Think You Can Dance” on Saturday 9th January. The single was released on Valentine’s Day. The Way Love Goes first entered the UK Singles Chart on 21, February 2010. The single has so far managed to peak at #8, his first Top 10 single since It's Not That Easy in 2006. It became Lemar's seventh Top 10 single and made the Top 10 without making the BBC Radio 1 or BBC Radio 2 playlists. It was followed on March 8 by his much anticipated album, 'The Hits', which - as well as including 10 hit singles from his four studio albums - also features four new tracks. In addtiton to 'The Way Love Goes', these include a duet with Britain's chart-topping pop/R&B boy-band JLS on a re-recording of Lemar's own 2003 ballad 'What About Love'. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.