Miguel

R&B singer Miguel was born Miguel Jontel Pimentel in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, to a Mexican American father and an African American mother. Speaking on an episode of MTV's This is How I Made It, Miguel revealed that his father was the reason he fell in love with music. "I had a happy childhood. We weren't well off by any means; my parents did their very best to provide for us," he said. "My father is one of the coolest people I know. He was just always bringing broken instruments home from the swap meet or the flea market or what not. Three out of five pieces of a drum set, a guitar missing two strings; he just loved music, he wanted us to have fun, and I think that's where I fell in love with music. I wasn't playing with Legos; I was playing with a guitar."

While waiting for the release of his own debut album, All I Want Is You, during a lengthy contract dispute, Miguel contributed vocals to fellow artists' records like Blu and Exile's Below the Heavens. He also loaned his co-writing skills to Usher's Here I Stand ("Revolver") and Raymond v. Raymond ("Monstar"), Asher Roth's Asleep in the Bread Aisle ("His Dream" which he also sang on), and Musiq Soulchild's "IfULeave."

The under-promoted All I Want Is You proved to be a sleeper hit, eventually peaking at #37 on the Billboard 200. His 2012 follow-up, Kaleidoscope Dream, brought him both commercial success and critical acclaim. It debuted at #3 on the albums chart.