Seal (Sealhenry) Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel (born February 19, 1963 in Paddington, London) is a two time Grammy Award winning British soul singer and songwriter of Nigerian ancestry. His name Olusegun means “God is victorious“. Known professionally by his first name, Seal is known for his numerous international hits and his marriage to supermodel Heidi Klum.
Seal was born Sealhenry Olumide Samuel in Paddington, a district of the City of Westminster in inner London. He graduated with a degree in architecture, and worked in various jobs in the London area. Seal got his characteristic facial scars as a result of discoid lupus, which in addition, has caused some hair loss.
While Seal is miles behind all the other inductees in terms of sales and general music stardom, I believe him to be one of the most underrated artists in Britain, if not one of the most underrated in the world, from the past 20 years. His velvet voice is often taken for granted with tracks such as Kiss from a Rose and Crazy, but it’s his album fillers that make him the artist he is today. From his first album, you can hear a certain “African” tinge to his voice, which I find somewhat refreshing in a British pop/soul record. However, his best record by far is Seal (1994). To date, it remains the only album I can listen through from start to finish without skipping any tracks. From Bring It On all the way to the exquisite Reprise at the end, Seal takes you on a relaxing soul journey. The album spawned most of his biggest hits: Kiss From A Rose, Prayer For The Dying and Don’t Cry.
From then on, however, his sales took a dip. Human Being wasn’t the hit it was intended to be. Dedicated to murdered rappers Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, the album definitely had a dark tone, which seemed to be its downfall. His bad fortune continued when his next album, Togetherland, was cancelled, after Seal believed it wasn’t up to scratch. His next album wasn’t released until 2003, but it was worth the wait. Seal IV was a return to his soul and contemporary R&B tunes, which gave him his original acclaim. His Greatest Hits and two live performances followed, before in 2008, he released his latest album, System. For me, it’s a brilliant dance record, and proves he still has what it takes to compete in the current music industry.
