Music
Kem
born 1967 · singer, songwriter, producer
Metro Detroit R&B singer, raised in Pontiac and Southfield, who self-financed his debut Kemistry and was signed by Motown in 2001.
- Born
Nashville, Tennessee
age 59- Birth name
- Kim Lamont Owens
- Detroit years
- 1970s–
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kem moved to suburban Detroit at five and grew up in Pontiac and Southfield. Working as a waiter and singing Top 40 covers in a wedding band, he wrote, produced and paid for his debut album, Kemistry, on a credit card. Its local success led Motown to sign him in November 2001, and the label reissued the album in 2003; it went gold. Album II (2005) went platinum, and its single "I Can't Stop Loving You", with Stevie Wonder on harmonica elsewhere on the record, reached number one at urban adult contemporary radio. Intimacy (2010) also went gold, "Nobody" from Promise to Love (2014) earned a Grammy nomination, and he wrote and produced for Ronald Isley. He also wrote the theme song of the Steve Harvey talk show.
Highlights
- Self-released debut Kemistry, reissued by Motown in 2003 (gold)
- Album II (2005): platinum
- "I Can't Stop Loving You": No. 1 urban adult contemporary
- Grammy-nominated "Nobody" (2014)