Artist

Keni Burke

Born:

28th September 1953

Artist Bio

Keni Burke

Legendary singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist Kenneth M. "Keni" Burke. Born 28th September in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, he began his career with four of his siblings in the band the Five Stairsteps. Keni wrote the group's first minor hit "You Waited Too Long" in 1966, but the group would see their biggest success with the million-selling song "O-o-h Child" in 1970. The group went on to sign with George Harrison's Dark Horse Records in 1975, and had their next hit with the Burke-penned "From Us to You", from their 1976 album 2nd Resurrection. The group reemerged for two albums as the Invisible Man's Band but disbanded soon after. Skilled as a guitarist, bassist and keyboardist Keni continued to work for the Dark Horse label as a session musician, while burgeoning a solo career of his own. In 1977, he released his self-titled debut album which featured the songs "Keep on Singing", "Give All You Can Give" and "From Me to You". During this period he contributed instrumentation to songs by a diverse range of artists including Sly & the Family Stone, Natalie Cole, Billy Preston, Terry Callier, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Withers, Dusty Springfield, Diana Ross, and Gladys Knight. In 1981 Keni released his self-produced follow-up solo album, You're the Best, but it was his third album, Changes, which appeared the following year, that made a more significant impact. This album included the singles "Hang Tight" and his signature hit "Risin' to the Top". The latter song has become a popular sampling choice for hip hop artists, having been borrowed by the likes of Doug E Fresh ("Keep Risin to the Top"), Big Daddy Kane ("Smooth Operator"), LL Cool J ("Around the Way Girl"), Pete Rock & CL Smooth ("Take You There"), Mary J. Blige ("Love No Limit"), O.C. ("Born 2 Live"), and Sean Price ("Sabado Gigante"), though a lot of these songs have been mistakenly thought to use the bass line from the 1983 song "All Night Long" by the Mary Jane Girls. In 2006, "Rising to the Top" appeared in the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, on fictional radio station Vice City for Lovers. Throughout the '80s and into the '90s, Keni continued his session and production work for artists such as Peabo Bryson, The O'Jays, The Jones Girls and Keith Sweat and in 1998 he released another album Nothin' but Love containing the hit "Indigenous Love". He has released 3 further solo albums since his comeback in 2007 the latest of which was 2014's Changes. There was also a "Risin To The Top" 35th anniversary tour in 2017. In 2022 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Rhythm and Music Blues Society. Keni is currently semi-retired from active touring while he still engages with fans sharing updates.

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