Over the next year, we’ll be spotlighting features from our e-zines from the last 25 years. T M H Entertainment, T M Hxone and Urban Bridgez.
As the longest running website for R&B online, since 1999 – We’ve been able to conduct some amazing interviews with R&B Royalty, as well Hip Hop Legends.
UB has also been blessed to speak with some of black cultures, biggest icons, in film, television and literature.
Emmy winner Tony Terry at 8 years old, along with his sister and two cousins sang around the Washington Metropolitan Gospel circuit in a group called the Freedom Gospel Singers.
Tony Terry once recalled that time; “Sometimes we’d sing four times on any one Sunday at three or four different churches. After a while, we got tired of it, but the music was definitely engrained in me. I couldn’t get enough. I used to buy records of artists and listen to them forever. I was obsessed with records. My mom would come in to remind me go to sleep. I’d just turn down the music real low and keep listening. While all my friends were outside playing, I’d spend my free time inside, doing something musical: either listening, learning, or recording something with some contraption I hooked up to be able to do three or four tracksof my vocals.”
Tony became a featured soloist with the Reverend Thomas Gospel Singers and, by the age of 13, he’d begun to turn his musical attention to the more secular sounds of artists like Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Donny Hathaway. “I learned every single riff of every single record until my mom would come in and tell me to stop singing!”
When Tony entered local talent shows in the D.C. area, he was a consistent winner. Inevitably, he expressed a desire to go to D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts. “To begin with, my mother was really opposed to it but, when I was about 17, she changed her mind. I started attending the school and auditioned for a lead part in the school’s version of the musical ‘Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope,’ which proved to be a major event in the city.” Tony’s obvious vocal prowess led to a spot singing background for Gospel singer Vanessa Bell Armstrong (“I had to learn ten songs in two days!”).
With a lot of stage experience from high school and college under his belt, Tony migrated to New York at 18 to do a play, “Black Nativity,” after getting a call from a friend to audition. After the season, he returned to Washington to manage a restaurant and, at 21.
In 1985 he returned to the Big Apple to give a singing career a second shot, this time to make it his home. “After the show, I started singing as a choir member in the hit Of-Broadway musical, ‘Mama, I Want To Sing.’ On one particular night, when one of the leads didn’t show, I was thrown into the role and stayed with the show for almost 18 months,” Tony stated to an industry trade.
Tony Terry signed with Currier’s Platinum Vibe Productions, shortly started doing session work with Sweet Sensation, the Boogie Boys and Black Britain, while beginning work on his own demo.
Then things finally began turning around for him. Currier presented his demo to Capitol’s Don Grierson. Tony was a breath away from signing with Capitol, when Grierson left the label to become Sr. VP/A&R at Epic. Taking Tony to Epic with him, Don continued grooming him for his eventual success.
Involved in eight of the 10 songs on his “Forever Yours” album, Tony‘s first single, “She’s Fly,” was presented to him during the last two weeks of the recording phase of the project by a school buddy from D.C., George Dick. “She’s Fly“, was released in 1987 and reached #10 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
“Lovey Dovey” was the first song Tony penned. Initially written as a ballad, Tony recalled, “I heard this kickin’ track that I thought would fit my melody like a glove. Actually, I’d never written a song before ‘Lovey Dovey,’ so that was quite an achievement,” Tony laughed.
His Epic debut album, “Forever Yours“, was released in 1988 and reached the Top 40 of Billboard’s R&B albums chart. The follow-up single, “Lovey Dovey“, reached #4 on the R&B charts and “Forever Yours” climbed into the R&B Top 20.
Tony Terry’s self-titled second album released in winter of 1990, included the single “With You” (his biggest hit). The song reached the Top 20 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, as well as was number #1 on the Top 10 R&B chart.
His video for “With You” was executive produced by Anita Baker and directed by Blair Underwood, who made a cameo appearance.
“My first album didn’t do as well as people think it did.” Tony Terry stated. “That was mainly because I didn’t know what the recording ‘thing” was all about. Now, I’m much more careful because I’ve matured as a person and an artist.”
“Everlasting Love“, was a number #6 R&B hit.
In 1991, Tony Terry earned two Soul Train Music Award nominations for Song of the Year and Artist of the Year for “With You”, “With You” also received an American Music Award nomination.
Tony was also featured in a duet with label mate Flame on the song “On The Strength“, which reached #59 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and #11 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart.
The following year, Tony Terry contributed background vocals on the single “Gotta Have Love“, from Yolanda Adams’ album “More Than a Melody.” He also appeared in the video. Terry has performed on the soundtracks to “Gladiator”, “Tap,” and “King’s Ransom.”
Tony Terry was enthusiastic in 1994 of his third release, after signing with Virgin records for the release of “Heart Of A Man.” “I’m glad, this is a whole new environment, a whole new thing, a whole new energy behind it. Energy that I haven’t had. I think it’s about to blow up. I kinda can’t wait.”
Virgin gave him more of a free hand in his expressions, and taking a firmer hand in the production.
The lead single was entitled “When A Man Cries,“ a song he purposely spotlighted for the release, due to the flood of “sex you up” records that played on radio. “I thought that not only was it time for something else, there’s certainly room for it.” Tony stated at the time. “I don’t view women as bitches and ‘hos. I view them as mothers, sisters and daughters.”
More songs on the album also explore sides of male vulnerability. Like the title track “Heart Of A Man” and “I’m Sorry.” The album incudes a stirring cover of the Donny Hathaway classic “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know.”
“I wanted to put myself on the line emotionally to prove the point that it’s okay to do so,” Tony shared, “You’re not a punk if you do. I think men are just as emotional, just as sensitive as women. We just tend to not show it. We al cry. We al have cried, but we’ll only do it behind closed doors. That’s okay, if that’s what you wanna do, but I wanted just to [let men] know that when you do, it’s okay.”
Tony Terry was philosophical about the pace his career had taken, “It does take time. And all we can do is keep chugging away. I’m fortunate in that all of my efforts have been released. They have been moderately successful, but I have not had to have years and years and years and years of frustration. It’s been gradual, but it’s been upward. And to me that’s building a firm foundation.”
As an actor Tony Terry‘s roles include the Tin Man in the national tour of “The Wiz“, featuring Tasha Scott, Grace Jones, Peabo Bryson, and CeCe Penniston. Terry played the dual roles of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in Dorothy Height’s “If This Hat Could Talk: The Dr. Dorothy Height Story.”
Terry was also tapped by David E. Talbert to play the lead role of Michael Wright in “His Woman, His Wife.” Tony Terry excelled his lead role in the Broadway-bound musical “Car Wash: The Norman Whitfield Story.” Tony was also cast in the lead role in Angela Dunlap’s “When Men Pray” (co-starring Terrell Carter and Tony Grant).
Starting in the year 2004, Tony Terry toured internationally with Roberta Flack until 2009. In 2006 he recorded a gospel album entitled “Changed.”
Tony Terry‘s last album “I Tony 6,” was released in 2015.
Also that year, Terry was recognized and saluted by the largest black caucus in the nation, the Georgia Black Legislative Caucus for his dedication and excellence in the field of entertainment.
Tony Terry created a not-for-profit organization, Tony Terry All Lives Matter, Inc. (TTALM), supporting victims’ of violence and brutality as well as their families.
In 2016, Terry was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the NAACP award-winning Playwrights Ball & Symposium/PEACH Theatre Awards. While sharing his gift of music, Tony Terry was honored to be included in the all-star line-up of the Tom Joyner “Fantastic Voyage” cruise, where he performed with legendary greats, such as Diana Ross.
In 2017 Tony Terry performed with Shanice on the Black Music Honors.
UB was honored to present the First Listen of Tony Terry‘s 2020 single “Born Ta Luv Ya.”
Last year Tony Terry won an Emmy for his contribution to “Legends Unite for St. Jude,” the Skip Martin and David L. Cook project.
In 2023, Tony Terry was also featured on TV One‘s series “Unsung.”
In 2009, Aries from UB spoke to the multi-talented Tony Terry for our Black Music Month Interview Series. Tony shares how Anita Baker saved “With You,” and his thoughts on his slept on album “Heart of A Man.”
Plus Tony Terry talks about touring with Roberta Flack and The Wiz, and his biggest industry obstacles and more!
UrbanBridgez.com: “With You” is such a classic song, did you have any idea you were recording such a timeless song when you were recording it?
Tony Terry: I knew there was something special about the song. I have an interesting story about how “With You” ended up being on my record. I was actually called into a meeting by the President of the label at the time, to convince me to not use it on the album, let alone use it as a single. Of course I felt passionately about it, the song is really simple. The thing that really connected to me was the story. So I felt being that if I was effected by the song, others would be effected by it as well. So I went to bat for it and I won the argument, because no was not acceptable. So they ended up releasing the record but with no support, but the single wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t until Anita Baker became involved as the executive producer of the video. It was divine intervention because she called me one day and I had not met her. She was telling me about the song that had awaken her the night before and I thought it was a joke, I didn’t really believe it. So she was asking me about the video and I explained to her that the label didn’t think the song would be a hit. So there wasn’t going to be a video. Anita was like man those people wouldn’t know a hit if it hit them in the forehead. So she said Terry I’m going to send you a check, I want you to shoot a video for “With You.” She hooked me up with Blair Underwood for the video, sent me a check for $50,000 and I went to LA and shot the video. The rest is history, relative to the song becoming the fabric of alot of peoples lives. The video that resulted in that conversation is the video that we all know.UrbanBridgez.com: You first came out in the age I like to call of real R&B, where artists like yourself were putting out timeless music, as an artist from that time do you ever think R&B will be back to where it once was?
Tony Terry: I hope so! I’ve been working on new music for awhile now, something is about to drop really soon I’m excited about that. But I found myself trying to make music of today. Whatever was happening, I was like let me make a song like that. Oppose to just making the type of music that I’m inspired by so that’s what I have ultimately done with this new project. I’m singing what I like to sing, my job is to sing the music with conviction and truthfulness. So I just do that and hopefully the music will effect people accordingly. I have a song called “Should A Man” that I think is a very powerful song. But I didn’t think it would effect people the way it has been effecting people the way it has on their first listen. It’s one of the more powerful songs that’s on this upcoming project.
UrbanBridgez.com: What made you decide to release the gospel CD “Changed?“
Tony Terry: “Changed” was a bit of a testimony actually. I went though a period where I needed to and wanted to reconnected spiritually. At that time I wanted to tell the world about the goodness of the lord & I did. But again, I was signed to an R&B label at the time and they were not interested in doing a gospel album on me. So I asked them to let me go, I got my walking papers from the label and pursued it. I followed my passion, which was to share my journey with people so that’s what I did.UrbanBridgez.com: Let’s talk about the new album you’re working on, what can fans expect from it?
Tony Terry: Again, I find myself trying to make music of the day. That’s somewhat the case with this record, I’m searching for new sounds. Trying to present myself in a way that is in today’s music scene. At the same time to remain classic! So it’s going to be a combination of acoustic music and the electronic synthesized sound as well. Really it’s just music… just music. I’m really excited, I have some great songs. I got songs like I mentioned before “Should A Man,” a song called “The Closest Thing To Perfect” which I absolutely love! On the more sexy side I have a song called “Bedroom Banger” (laughs). Which makes me laugh because it’s so right there, I love it!UrbanBridgez.com: I’m looking forward to it! Your favorite CD to me is “Heart of A Man.”
Tony Terry: That’s my favorite CD too! That is my favorite CD!UrbanBridgez.com: I felt like it was slept on.
Tony Terry: It was slept on, you know we had really good songs on that album. That album came out on the Virgin label and politics came into play. I found myself in a situation where my management didn’t get along with the upper management at the label. So why they were budding heads, my agreement with Virgin was terminated. For reasons that had nothing to do with me at all. Because of my management not getting along with them and I was signed to a production deal at the time. That was the reason I didn’t continue my career at Virgin Records. Which was unfortunate because I felt that we were off to a great start with that album.UrbanBridgez.com: You were touring with Roberta Flack for the last five years I read, what was the best part about being out with Roberta?
Tony Terry: Well Roberta is an icon, she’s a legend! So I shared some of my musical highlights of my career with Roberta. Singing those classic duets with her, that was my gig to come out and sing duets with her. It was awesome, traveling around the world a few times. Doing command performances for heads of states, kings and princesses around the world. It was really fun, I stopped doing that in February of this year. I felt like five years was enough, I felt like it was time for me to reemerge on the scene musically in my own right. So I broke off and started working on this new CD which should be coming in the first quarter of 2010.
UrbanBridgez.com: You’ve been a apart of some great stage-plays through the years, what’s been your favorite? I personally love The Wiz.
Tony Terry: Oh you saw that?UrbanBridgez.com: Oh yeah with Tasha Scott, Grace Jones and everybody, I loved it!
Tony Terry: Yeah that was a highlight! I was in such great company with the cast like Phebo Bryson, Grace, Cece Peniston, Tasha Scott, it was awesome. There is also another one I enjoyed that was very memorable for me, a story that was loosely based on the life of Dr. Dorothy Heights. Who was the founder of The National Council for Negro Woman. The show was called “If This Hat Could Talk,” in it I played two characters. Martin Luther King and Malcom X, it was a very, very powerful piece. It was alot of fun, it was great. And then David Talbert’s “His Woman, His Wife.” That I co stared with Malik Yoba from New York Undercover. Also Stephanie Mills, who I am a huge fan of, so it was great to share the stage with her. The chemistry between us on stage was great.UrbanBridgez.com: What’s been one of the biggest obstacles you’ve had to face in the music industry?
Tony Terry: Staying relevant and that would be really pacific to the United States because in this business it’s like you’re hot this month and next month you’re not. A few of us stayed relevant year after year and then some fall off and become relevant again or fall off and never are heard of again. So really just trying to stay consistent, I think they key is remaining passionate. Even though I’ve been off of the scene as it relates to having records out, I’ve been working the whole time. In this music business it’s like out of sight, out of mind. I’ve been fortunate to have the ability to travel all around the world, even when I wasn’t making records.UrbanBridgez.com: The Tony Terry Lover’s Lounge, explain what that is and how fans can check it out?
Tony Terry: It’s an interesting twist on your normal night out. What happens is, we’ll feature a musical segment, we’ll feature a spoken word artist. The whole event is entertainment, it’s a night out. But we do music and spoken word and then we turn the music off. Then we start talking about life, love and relationships. And we engage the audience in the conversation. I’m really impressed after the first event we’ve done, I’ve only done one. We’re doing another one November 19th (TONIGHT). But I have to say I was impressed with the peoples involvement. To do something new and not that talking is a new concept but when you go out to a club or a lounge to have a drink to listen to some music, you don’t expect the music to shut down and to start talking about love & relationships. I was really impressed with how involved the audience became, males and women with the conversation. We talk about everything as it relates to life, love and relationships. So this week we’re going to be talking about love triangles and should men cry. Is a man that cries a weak man or a strong man. So we’re talking about everything in relationships from A to Z, the good, bad and the ugly. While the event is a roaming event that travels, steadily right now we’re doing it in Atlanta at a place called Londzell’s Martini Lounge & Restaurant in Roswell, GA. People can find out more information about it as well as anything else I’m doing at my new website, www.tonyterryonline.com, we stream the show live. Once a month we do a live remote broadcast on radio, it’s really in interesting event.UrbanBridgez.com: Any last words for your fans?
Tony Terry: I appreciate those of you who have been fans of mine, I really appreciate that. I’m looking forward to giving new music, looking forward to touring in the new year and I can’t wait to reconnect with people. To those who have been anticipating new music from me, I’m really looking forward to getting back out there again.
Take A Trip Down Memory Lane With Tony Terry!
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