Luke James

Luke James is an American R&B singer-songwriter. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, James began his musical career singing background for R&B artist Tyrese and later writing songs for recording artists such as Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Keri Hilson and Justin Bieber. Under the management of record producer Danja, James released his first mixtape, #Luke, in 2011. The mixtape's critically acclaimed single "I Want You" earned him a Best R&B Performance nomination at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Like the first project, he released his second mixtape Whispers in the Dark as a free music download in 2012. His debut studio album, Made to Love, is scheduled to be released in 2014.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana and raised by a single mother, James was influenced by an eclectic array of music, particularly jazz and R&B. As a child, James was inspired by several recording artists and musicians such as Marvin Gaye, Willie Nelson, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Alabama, among others.

James honed his skills as a songwriter, quickly hooked up with producer Danja and began to craft hits for those in the pop, R&B and soul genres. He began to co-write hits such as Chris Brown's "Crawl" for his critically and universally panned third album, Graffiti. In addition to writing for Brown, he also wrote (or co-wrote) hits for pop artists such as Justin Bieber ("That Should Be Me"), Britney Spears ("Kill the Lights") and Keri Hilson ("Do It").

In 2011, he was personally selected by R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles to appear as a dancer in her "Run the World (Girls)" music video. In December 2011, he released his debut extended play (EP) album #Luke as a free digital download. His first single, "I Want You," received universal acclaim from critics for its production and for James' vocal performance. The single later earned him a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2012 Soul Train Music Awards.

Upon release of his second free digital mixtape, Whispers in the Dark, in December 2012, James began to garner buzz for his formal debut album Made to Love, which is expected to be released from Def Jam in early 2014.

In 2013 he was personally chosen by R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles to be an opening act for her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.