“Rub You the Right Way,” “My My My,” and “Wrap My Body Tight” are three of Johnny Gill’s top hits as a solo artist. Prior to Gill’s previously mentioned hits, Gill had chart-topping songs like “Can You Stand the Rain,” “N.E. Heartbreak,” and “Boys to Men,” as a member of the singing group New Edition.
Last year, he also released the playfully naughty Christmas anthem, “Bad Santa.” He recently performed the single on “The Tamron Hall Show.”
Raised in a close nit family in Washington D.C., Gill says he cherishes times like the holidays to get together with his loved ones. However, he also believes that engaging with family is precious anytime.
“It shouldn’t just take the holiday to do so,” said Gill. “Of course, everybody is always off living their lives, working, and doing what they do. But thank God for the holidays. That gives a reason to have to come together.”
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Sadly, Gill lost his mother this year, so it will be the family’s first Christmas without her. He says returning home to D.C. for the yuletide is especially emotional.
“We just continue to love on one another, and continue to get used to the new normal,” said Gill.
Stemming from a church-going background, Gill says weekend family get-togethers was a time, as children, that they were allowed to listen to secular music. Some of those artists would become Gill’s influences in his musical stylings.
“We would have gatherings outside in the yard, and they would [play] Stevie and Marvin Gaye. It was one of those times as a kid you were like a sponge. You’re hearing it and you’re absorbing it,” said Gill.
Gill says he has never strayed too far from that upbringing. But growing up he could be mischievous at times, and that it was a learning process most kids go through.
A common misnomer about Gill’s childhood is that he went to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC. “It’s crazy because I visited Duke Ellington. Stacy [Lattisaw] actually went there briefly. I’ve gotten that for a number of years, people asking me if I attended Duke Ellington,” said Gill.
Gill says he and Stacy Lattisaw first met in elementary school in glee club. Lattisaw is also a professional singer who had several hits during the 1980s, including “Let Me Be Your Angel and “I Found Love on a Two-Way Street.”
Gill and Lattisaw also collaborated on the album “Perfect Combination.”
“Stacy’s place was like a hangout spot, where we would hang out after school and on the weekends,” said Gill. “It was a great space and a great place.”
Gill says all the kids were in awe of Stacy’s hit record achievements, and it was during this period he would be introduced to the music industry.
“It wasn’t something I took high interest in, that I wanted to be a singer. I grew up in church and everybody could sing,” said Gill. “It never dawned on me that I was doing something special or different. I was just singing because that’s what we do.”
Gill remembers one rainy day being at Lattisaw’s home and being put on the spot to sing. “I used to wear suits to school, and I didn’t want to get my suit wet. Her mother said, ‘Everybody is going to have to do something or you’re going to have to leave.’
“We had to figure out something to do, and my something to do was sing. Her mama asked her, ‘Who is that singing?’ They called me ‘Boogie’ back then, and her mother said, ‘Is that Boogie?’ and Stacy said, ‘Yeah, that’s Boogie.’”
Gill says he recorded a demo on a $29 tape recorder, and Lattisaw’s mother presented it to the record label. He was signed to Atlantic Records, where he released his first solo and self-titled album, “Johnny Gill.”
Gill states transitioning from a solo artist performing primarily ballads to joining the original boy band “New Edition” was like being a fish out of water. “You go from singing and concentrating on vocals to singing and dancing. I was like, ‘ay-ay-ay,’ but it was what we do,” said Gill.
He says it was a challenge, especially with “two-left-feet,” but it was a challenge he faced and mastered.
Gill says coming into an already established group, especially with an already established fanbase is still awkward to this day. It is commonly reported, but inaccurately, that Gill was brought in to replace R&B singer Bobby Brown. Gill is quick to dispel this rumor. “Bobby is his own man, and I’m my own man,” said Gill.
He says becoming comfortable in his own skin and coming to grips with his own place in the group has helped him overcome any insecurities surrounding his contributions to New Edition.
Gill said this about his long history with his co-members: “Being with the group has taught me how to deal with the different dynamics and personalities of people. It’s crazy how you have to come to learn everybody’s language, and connect, and identify [their language].”
When Gill returned to his solo career, he says that it was always understood from the beginning he would continue to record as a solo artist because of his contractual obligations to his record label.
“That was great because that is what kept me comfortable and secure, and even more amped to work together with the group — because I didn’t feel like I would never be able to express myself as an individual,” said Gill.
With encouragement from singer/songwriter Keith Sweat, Gill says that later in his career he would become a member of the successful musical trio “LSG,” along with Gerald Levert. LSG was the first initial of each gentlemen’s surname.
Today, Gill continues to perform with New Edition. He says the group is currently preparing for their new Las Vegas residency at the Fontainebleau beginning in February 2024. Gill also continues to perform his solo holiday song “Bad Santa” leading into Christmas.
