Charles Perry

Charles Perry began singing at the age of five, and as is the case with many great vocalists, his career emerged from the church. By the age of thirteen, he was featured on the album of Montel Thomas, which hit #10 on Billboard. At sixteen, Charles became a teenage sensation; he was the youngest actor in Vy Higginson's highly acclaimed musical, "Mama I Want to Sing," and shortly thereafter, his touring career exploded: he performed with multi-Grammy Award winners CeCe Winans and Shirley Ceasar; he sang alongside gospel icons Cissy Houston and Tramaine Hawkins; he shared stages with R&B legends Regina Belle, Stephanie Mills, and Grammy Award winner Lisa Fischer; soon, Charles went on to to perform with and sing backgrounds for a diverse range of superstars including Liza Minelli, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Usher, and Michael Jackson (with whom he performed at Madison Square Garden).

Charles drew inspiration from the "forefathers of rock & roll"--Jimmy Hendrix, Little Richard, John Lennon, and Freddy Mercury. He explains: "As much as I was inspired by black music, I was more inspired by music." Growing up in the hood of Linden Blvd Projects in Brooklyn, NY, Charles hungered for something bigger and gradually found it in a collection of vintage records. "Real music has no race, no color, no skin. It is the simple-sound-of-feeling, and next to faith, it's the purest thing I've ever known."

In 2011, Charles manager, Carrington Harris, introduced Charles to songwriter and music entrepreneur Freddy Wexler at the Brain Studios in Manhattan. The two became instant friends and collaborators: "We shared a fiery vision to dismantle a race barrier in music." Six months later, Freddy signed Charles to the The Brain Records. Charles notes: "I never thought I'd actually sign a record deal. It was a cool feeling to have some really famous executives try to sign me over the years, but I didn't want to be pigeonholed. Freddy was different. He got me."

After performing live at the 2012 BET Awards, Charles moved into the Brain Writers House in Los Angeles and began recording his debut album. The sound of it is not easily described, as each song seems to gracefully transcend musical genres, tiptoeing and stomping in and out of Pop, Indie, Rock, and Soul. It's nonconformist but extremely classic. If anything, that's what this album is about--classic songs, all of which, Charles cowrote.