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Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and record producer.
He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up," "Where I Wanna Be," and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet". Jones broke to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album, Where I Wanna Be.
Contrary to persistent Internet rumours, Donell Jones is not the son of gospel music legend Bobby Jones. However, his father, Roy Jones (not the famous boxer) is a minister --- just not the Reverend Bobby Jones. Jones' upbringing was rough. He struggled between wanting to be a musician and a member of the Gangster Disciples, a street gang. After a brush with death, Jones left the gang and focused on a music career forming the group Porscha. However, Jones was gaining notice as a writer penning songs for established R&B acts such as Usher (he produced the singer's 1995 hit "Think of You") and 702 (band)'s "Get It Together". Jones also wrote for groups such as Brownstone and Silk.
He has five daughters and one son.
In 1996, Donell Jones signed with LaFace Records and released his debut album, My Heart, which included the hit cover of Stevie Wonder's 1976 ballad "Knocks Me Off My Feet".
It wasn't until 1999, however, that Jones began to establish himself as a true R&B hit maker with his second album, Where I Wanna Be. The album yielded number-one hits such as "U Know What's Up", which featured TLC member Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes and the title track. Other hits included "Shorty Got Her Eyes on Me" and "This Luv". The album went on to sell over one million copies.
In 2000, Jones recorded the song "I'll Go" for the Love and Basketball soundtrack.
Jones released his third album in 2002, the gold-selling Life Goes On album. It featured the hits, "You Know That I Love You" (#16 R&b), "Don't Leave" featuring G-Wise and "Put Me Down" featuring Styles P..
Four years later in 2006 Jones released his fourth album, Journey of a Gemini which included the Tim & Bob produced song "I'm Gonna Be". It had moderate success reaching #40 on Urban AC. "Spend The Night" also received notable airplay.
Donell Jones' new album, Lyrics, was released on September 28, 2010 under E1 Music.
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