Robert E. Person

Robert E. Person has forged a singular path through his soulful tenor voice, weaving together jazz, sacred music, and R&B into a rich and distinctive style. His introduction to listeners came via the 2004 debut The Call, after which his refined stage presence steadily drew a devoted audience.

Washington, D.C. was the setting for his upbringing, where Person first took the stage as a teenager in musical theater productions mounted by the D.C. Youth Ensemble. Following high school, he continued his education at Morehouse College and the University of the District of Columbia. In those same years he built an acting résumé that included appearances in The Wiz and Dreamgirls as well as Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity and Tambourines to Glory. Experience as a backing vocalist for Josh Groban preceded the launch of his own recording career with The Call in 2004; two years later he issued the follow-up Next Level.

His third album, Soul Sanctuary, appeared in 2011. Love Divine followed in 2015, highlighted by the single “Testify” and featuring contributions from longtime pianist and musical director Allyn Johnson along with guest vocalists Mike McCoy and Dottie Jones. The jazz-oriented Classic Covers EP surfaced in 2018 and reached number 12 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart. Away from the stage, Person hosts the radio program The Soulful Sessions with Robert E. Person on the Rejoice Musical Soulfood Network.