Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953 in Natchez, Mississippi) is an American R&B singer. Some of his best-known songs are "Fake", "Criticize", "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This". O'Neal was born in Natchez, Mississippi, but moved to Minneapolis when he was 20. He is an alumnus of Alcorn State University. He joined a group called "The Mystics" and played the local coverband circuit. O'Neal spent a short time in a group "Enterprise" before being recruited into Flyte Tyme, a band that included Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Monte Moir. Later signed by Prince to the Warner Bros. label with their name changed to The Time, a disagreement with Prince led to O'Neal leaving the band and being replaced as lead singer by Morris Day. O'Neal immediately formed a rock and roll band called Alexander and recorded a 12" single, "Playroom", for a Chicago-based independent label, followed by the release of "Attitude" on the Rich Records Label. Three years later, in 1984, O'Neal signed a deal with Clarence Avant's Tabu Records. He did some backing vocals for other artists on the same label, including The SOS Band and Cherrelle. O'Neal participated on the reality British reality singing contest show Just the Two of Us in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he released Alex Loves, his first studio album in six years. In 2008, O'Neal took part in a Wife Swap UK special, swapping his wife Cynthia with broadcaster and TV personality Jilly Goolden. The programme included O'Neal being interviewed in-depth by noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul.
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