Rooted in gospel and classic rock and soul, genre-hopping singer and songwriter Charles Perry didn't grow up in the church -- he grew up in several churches. The Brooklyn native was singing at the age of five, and as an adolescent was able to boast about appearing on Montel Thomas' Sealed by the Holy Ghost, an album that hit number 10 on Billboard's gospel chart. While still young, he appeared on-stage in a production of Mama I Want to Sing and performed background vocals for a lengthy list of high-profile gospel and R&B artists, including Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, and Whitney Houston. In 2010, Perry offered his debut solo album, the independently released The Genesis of Soul, on which he mixed throwback soul, synth funk, and contemporary ballads. He subsequently signed with the Universal-distributed Verve label and was put to work with several fellow songwriters, including Jason Evigan, Nate Fox, and Verve chairman David Foster. In February 2015, the thumping folk-dance hybrid "Stranger to Love" was released as a single, and was remixed separately by Tiesto and RAC, ahead of an album. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi