Johnny Kemp, a Bahamian R&B singer best known for the 1988 hit song “Just Got Paid,” was found dead on April 16 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was 55.
The police said that his body was found floating at a beach and was believed to have drowned but provided no other details.
Reach Media, the parent company of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” said that Mr. Kemp had been scheduled to be on a Caribbean cruise sponsored by the Tom Joyner Foundation. He had not yet boarded the ship, the company said. Mr. Kemp was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Just Got Paid,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 10 on the pop chart. He had been performing around the United States in recent years.
He was born in the Bahamas on Aug. 2, 1959, and began singing in nightclubs there at 13. He moved to New York City in 1979, lived in Harlem and worked as a session vocalist and songwriter before landing a solo contract with Columbia Records, according to online biographies.
“Just Got Paid” appeared on his second album for Columbia, “Secrets of Flying.”
He is survived by his wife, Deirdre Fisher-Kemp, and their two sons.
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Career[edit]
Kemp began singing in nightclubs in the Bahamas at 13. He moved to New York in 1979 with the band Kinky Fox. His self-titled debut album came out in 1986, and he scored a minor hit with Just Another Lover. True success came the following year, however, with the release of his Secrets of Flying album, which contained a pair of Top 40 hits on the US Billboard R&B chart, "Dancin' with Myself" and "Just Got Paid", the latter hitting #1.
"Just Got Paid" hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988,[1] and sold over a million singles in the United States. It went to top the Hot Dance Music/Club Play, and provided his only UK Singles Chart entry, peaking at #68 in August 1988.[2] His only other Hot 100 entry was "Birthday Suit", a tune from the soundtrack to the movie, Singwhich climbed to #36 in 1989.[citation needed]
Kemp appeared on the 2007 DVD release by Keith Sweat entitled Sweat Hotel Live. The DVD featured live performances by Sweat in a sort of reunion with other R&B/new jack swing era pioneers of the late 1980s, including Teddy Riley. Kemp appeared on the final track, an "all-star finale" rendition of "Just Got Paid", originally recorded at a February 2006 concert in Atlanta, Georgia. Incidentally, Sweat had initially passed on the instrumental track that would eventually become "Just Got Paid", when it was first offered to him in the mid-1980s. Kemp listened to it, added his own lyrics to the melody, and "Just Got Paid" was born.[3]
Kemp was the featured performer (singing "Just Got Paid") at the NJS4E[4] event in New York on September 8, 2007. As the name implied, the show celebrated and commemorated 20 years of new jack swing, and took place at Ashford & Simpson's Sugar Bar.[citation needed]
Family[edit]
Kemp was married and the father of two sons.[citation needed]
Death[edit]
According to news reports, Johnny Kemp died during the week of April 16, 2015. On Thursday morning, April 16, 2015, his body was found floating in the water of Montego Bay, Jamaica, according to Jamaica police.[5] The cause or exact date of death has not yet been determined. He was 55 years old.[6][7][8]
While he was scheduled to be on the Tom Joyner Foundation-hosted annual Fantastic Voyage cruise as a performer when his body was found, reports state he did not board the ship.[9][10]
Discography[edit]
- 1986: Johnny Kemp
- 1987: Secrets of Flying
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Jonathan "Johnny" Kemp (August 2, 1959 – April 2015) was a Bahamian singer.
Kemp began singing in nightclubs in the Bahamas at 13. He moved to New York in 1979 with the band Kinky Fox. His self-titled debut album came out in 1986, and he scored a minor hit with Just Another Lover. True success came the following year, however, with the release of his Secrets of Flying album, which contained a pair of Top 40 hits on the US Billboard R&B chart, "Dancin' with Myself" and "Just Got Paid", the latter hitting #1.
"Just Got Paid" hit the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, and sold over a million singles in the United States. It went to top the Hot Dance Music/Club Play, and provided his only UK Singles Chart entry, peaking at #68 in August 1988. His only other Hot 100 entry was "Birthday Suit", a tune from the soundtrack to the movie, Sing which climbed to #36 in 1989.
Kemp appeared on the 2007 DVD release by Keith Sweat entitled Sweat Hotel Live. The DVD featured live performances by Sweat in a sort of reunion with other R&B/new jack swing era pioneers of the late 1980s, including Teddy Riley. Kemp appeared on the final track, an "all-star finale" rendition of "Just Got Paid", originally recorded at a February 2006 concert in Atlanta, Georgia. Incidentally, Sweat had initially passed on the instrumental track that would eventually become "Just Got Paid", when it was first offered to him in the mid-1980s. Kemp listened to it, added his own lyrics to the melody, and "Just Got Paid" was born.
Kemp was the featured performer (singing "Just Got Paid") at the NJS4E event in New York on September 8, 2007. As the name implied, the show celebrated and commemorated 20 years of new jack swing, and took place at Ashford & Simpson's Sugar Bar.
Kemp was married and the father of two sons.
According to news reports, Johnny Kemp died during the week of April 16, 2015. On Thursday morning, April 16, 2015, his body was found floating in the water of Montego Bay, Jamaica, according to Jamaica police. The cause or exact date of death has not yet been determined. He was 55 years old.
While he was scheduled to be on the Tom Joyner Foundation-hosted annual Fantastic Voyage cruise as a performer when his body was found, reports state he did not board the ship.
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