"Soul music is soul music. It can be wrapped up in a neo soul package; it can be called hip-hop soul. But soul is soul, and it's been around; it will never go away."

• Born Gerald Maxwell Rivera on May 23, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York

• Maxwell scored his first Top 40 hit with 1996's "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)." He earned his a Top 5 album with 1998's Embrya, which was followed by his first No. 1 album: 2001's Now.

• He won his first GRAMMYs for 2009 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance ("Pretty Wings") and Best R&B Album for Blacksummers' Night. He made his GRAMMY stage debut at the 52nd GRAMMY Awards in 2010, performing "Pretty Wings" and "Where Is The Love" with Roberta Flack.

• Did you know? Maxwell's first job was a dishwasher at a Pizza Hut.

• In 2009 Maxwell performed a special concert at the Novo by Microsoft benefiting the GRAMMY Museum.