Jeffrey Osborne

His deep, manly voice and romantic delivery made Jeffrey Osborne an R&B hitmaker for four decades. Born in Providence R.I., Osborne came from a musical family; his father Clarence Osborne was a trumpeter with Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Osborne made his performing debut sitting in on drums with the O'Jays, but saw his first success joining the funk band L.T.D. in 1970. Initially joining as the drummer, Osborne moved up to become the main singer; his brother Billy also joined on keyboards. While L.T.D. specialized in funk it was a love ballad, accurately titled "Love Ballad," that became their commercial breakthrough in 1976. Osborne was now the voice of the band, scoring further hits with them ("Holding On (When Love Is Gone)," "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again") before going solo in 1980. His commercial hot streak lasted for most of the '80s, beginning with the ballad "On the Wings of Love" which crossed over to the pop charts in 1982. Among his hits were duets with female singers, including "The Last Time I Made Love" with Joyce Kennedy, "Love Power" with Dionne Warwick. He also wrote lyrics for Whitney Houston's hit "We Are One," and sang on 1985's massive fundraising record "We Are the World." The 1991 single "The Morning After I Made Love to You" was his last to hit the Top 40, but Osborne continued to tour and record into the 2010s, making occasional high-profile appearance such as a 2010 guest shot on "The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love" (ABC 2010), the show named partly after his hit.