Calvin Richardson Live at Suite
About event
Born and raised in Monroe, NC (where he was the fifth of nine children), Richardson had a very musical upbringing – one that included a steady diet of R&B and African-American gospel. Richardson's mother led a local gospel group called the Willing Wonders, and he sang with them consistently. When he wasn't listening to gospel, Richardson listened to secular soul and funk – and his favorites included Bobby Womack, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, and the Gap Band. Richardson, in fact, has cited all of those artists as early influences. North Carolina's gospel circuit is where, as a kid, Richardson met longtime friends Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey and his brother Joel "JoJo" Hailey, who went on to achieve urban contemporary stardom in the early '90s as members of the vocal group Jodeci; subsequently, the siblings recorded for MCA as the duo K-Ci & JoJo.