PJ Morton

P.J. Morton (born Paul Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been one of the keyboardists, alongside Jesse Carmichael, for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Morton originally joined the band as a touring member in 2010 and became an official member in 2012 after Carmichael went on indefinite hiatus (he returned to the lineup in 2014).

PJ Morton
Morton in 2011
Born
Paul Morton Jr.

(1981-03-29) March 29, 1981
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Years active2005–present
Spouse(s)Kortni Morton
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
Labels
Associated acts
Websitepjmortononline.com

Morton released his debut solo EP, Following My First Mind, in March 2012, through the record label Young Money. Adam Levine and James Valentine were featured on the lead single, "Heavy". In May 2013, Morton released his first major-label debut album, New Orleans. In 2016, he released his mixtape Bounce & Soul Vol. 1 in March and the Sticking to My Guns EP in July. On April 14, 2017, Morton released his first self-released studio album Gumbo, earning Morton two Grammy Award nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.[1]

In April 2019, Morton said he would begin a project to restore the New Orleans home of jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden and create a museum and community space at the site.[2] Bolden's former home has been owned by Morton's father's church for more than a decade, and had been cited for demolition by neglect.[3]

Personal life

Morton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father is Canadian-born American gospel singer and Founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, Bishop Paul S. Morton. His mother is Dr. Debra Brown Morton, pastor of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church. He is married to Kortni Morton.[4]

Morton graduated St. Augustine High School and majored in marketing at Morehouse College, graduating in 2003.[5]

Career

Maroon 5

In 2010, Morton's friend and Maroon 5's musical director Adam Blackstone asked him to audition for a position in the band as keyboardist and backing vocalist. Morton was the first to audition and left an indelible mark on the group.[6] Since then, he has played with Maroon 5 in concerts and other live performances. From 2012 to 2014 Morton filled-in for the band's keyboardist, Jesse Carmichael, who was on an indefinite hiatus from performing with the group, as stated on their official website in March 2012.[7] In 2012, he joined the band as a full-time member, contributing his vocal and keyboard parts on Maroon 5's fourth studio album, Overexposed, and continuing to do so during the processes of recording the band's albums, V (2014) and Red Pill Blues (2017).

Signing to Young Money and New Orleans

Morton's solo work won the attention of Mack Maine, who signed him to his production company, Soothe Your Soul, and Young Money Entertainment in 2011.[8] The Following My First Mind EP was released on March 27, 2012.

On May 14, 2013, Morton released his major-label debut studio album with Young Money Records, titled New Orleans. The album's lead single, "Only One", which features Stevie Wonder, was nominated for the Best R&B Song at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014.

Gumbo and Paul

In 2016, Morton moved to New Orleans and opened a record label called Morton Records which he envisioned as "the New Orleans Motown".[9][10] Same year, Morton started working on Gumbo. About the album's title he said "I named it Gumbo because the actual dish is a bunch of things mixed in together to make [something] beautiful. I wanted to grow as a songwriter and talk about more things ... about where we are in the world today, the tension, how divided we are as a country. It kind of felt like I was dumping a bunch of subject matter together and I made it in New Orleans so that sounded like gumbo to me."[11] As a first step, on March 25, 2016, Morton released Bounce & Soul Vol. 1, a mixtape which includes re-imagined versions of his best songs in New Orleans' bounce style.[12] On July 1, 2016, Morton released the Sticking to My Guns EP, featuring the single of the same name.[13] The EP, besides including alternative versions of "First Began" and "Sticking to My Guns", also contains "Say So", a song that was later cut from the final tracklist of the album. On November 15, 2016, Morton released "You Should Be Ashamed", a Stevie Wonder-esque socially conscious song that was later replaced by "Religion".[14] On March 13, 2017, Morton announced on his Instagram page April 14, 2017 as the release date of Gumbo.[15]

Gumbo did not manage to enter on the US Billboard 200 chart but received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented Morton's style and praised him for his singing and songwriting. The album earned Morton two Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.[1] On February 14, 2019, Morton collaborated with singer JoJo on the song "Say So", which served as the lead single for his sixth album Paul.[16][17][18]

Other work

After winning Grammy Awards for his songwriting and production on India.Arie's Interested, Morton won Dove and Stellar Awards in 2008.

Morton was also noticed by AR Rahman, composer for Slumdog Millionaire, who asked Morton to contribute "Sajna" to the soundtrack and movie for the Vince Vaughn comedy Couples Retreat. Morton has also produced and written for musicians such as Jermaine Dupri, LL Cool J, Jagged Edge, Monica, India.Arie, gospel musicians Fred Hammond, Men of Standard, Brian Courtney Wilson, and Heather Headley. In 2009, he published a book entitled Why Can't I Sing About Love?[19] In 2019, Morton appeared in a new version of the 1994 song "Colourblind" by John P. Kee from his album I Made It Out (2019).

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2013 The PJ Morton Show Himself 5 episodes
2017 NCIS: New Orleans Himself Episode: "Return of the King"
2018 Nobody's Fool Himself
2020 Soul City Terrence Episode: "Give Man"
2020 The Culture[20] Himself / Host

Composer
Year Title Notes
2018 Champaign ILL Web series; 10 episodes

Discography

As solo artist

Studio albums

  • Emotions (2005)
  • Walk Alone (2010)
  • New Orleans (2013)
  • Gumbo (2017)
  • Christmas with PJ Morton (2018)
  • Paul (2019)
  • The Piano Album (2020)
  • Gospel According to PJ: From the Songbook of PJ Morton (2020)

Live albums

Mixtape

  • Bounce & Soul Volume 1 (2016)

EPs

  • Following My First Mind (2012)
  • Sticking to My Guns (2016)

With the PJ Morton Band
  • Perfect Song (2007)

With Maroon 5

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards[21]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2013 "Payphone" Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Nominated
Overexposed Best Pop Vocal Album Nominated
2014 "Only One" Best R&B Song Nominated
2016 "Sugar" Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Nominated
2018 Gumbo Best R&B Album Nominated
"First Began" Best R&B Song Nominated
2019 Best R&B Performance Nominated
"Girls Like You" Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Nominated
"How Deep Is Your Love" Best Traditional R&B Performance Won
Gumbo Unplugged Best R&B Album Nominated
2020 "Say So" Best R&B Song Won
"Built for Love" Best Traditional R&B Performance Nominated
Paul Best R&B Album Nominated
gollark: I finally brought my 3D printer online and made a few more.
gollark: How do you know he's wyættplayz?
gollark: It was taking too much time or something.
gollark: Automatic arbitrage would be pretty useful too.
gollark: If there was wide support for this slight craziness I guess Wolf Mall could get some internal network cables to move items without drones, and I could design inter-shop communication stuff.

References
  1. "60th Annual GRAMMY Awards". May 22, 2018.
  2. Bebco, Joe (April 10, 2019). "PJ Morton Working to Save Buddy Bolden House". The Syncopated Times. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  3. MacCash, Doug (March 29, 2019). "Jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden's historic house cited for demolition by neglect". NOLA.com. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  4. "USA GRAMMY ARWARDS 2014". naver.com.
  5. "Printing – Discovery: PJ Morton – Interview Magazine". interviewmagazine.com. November 14, 2013.
  6. "PJ Morton Talks Transition From Writing Gospel Music to Singing with Young Money Records". UGospel.Com. May 8, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  7. "Band Announcement – Jesse Carmichael". maroon5.com. March 9, 2012. Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  8. "Maroon 5's PJ Morton Talks Young Money Deal". AllHipHop.Com. March 26, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  9. "PJ Morton of Maroon 5 moves home to New Orleans, opens record label". nola.com. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  10. "PJ Morton of Maroon 5 moves home to New Orleans, opens record label".
  11. "PJ Morton talks new album, Maroon 5 and more".
  12. "New Music: PJ Morton - Bounce & Soul Volume 1 (Mixtape) - YouKnowIGotSoul.com". March 26, 2016.
  13. "New Music: PJ Morton - Sticking to my Guns - YouKnowIGotSoul.com". June 9, 2016.
  14. "PJ Morton Addresses The Deplorables On 'You Should Be Ashamed' - SoulBounce - SoulBounce". November 17, 2016.
  15. "PJ Morton on Instagram: "MY NEW ALBUM!!!!!! #GUMBO COMING 4.21.17 🍛🥄"". Instagram.
  16. Jefferson, J'na (February 14, 2019). "PJ Morton And JoJo Collaborate On Stunning New Song "Say So"". Vibe. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  17. Velez, Jennifer (July 23, 2019). "PJ Morton Announces New Album 'PAUL'". Grammys. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  18. "PJ Morton Releases New Single "Ready" + Reveals Cover Art & Tracklist For Upcoming Album "Paul"". You Know Got I Soul. July 23, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  19. "Why Can't I Sing About Love?". WhyCan'tISingAboutLove.Com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  20. Arnold, Chuck (June 3, 2020). "Maroon 5 keyboardist PJ Morton launches trivia show celebrating black art". New York Post. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  21. "PJ Morton | Artist". The Recording Academy. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.