
If Jesse Campbell, the breakout star from the current season of NBC's The Voice, looks and sounds familiar, it's not just because his voice is reminiscent of Luther Vandross, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye and other soulful greats before him.
In 1994 he signed with Capitol Records and released his first album, Never Let You Go. He followed that up with a memorable cover of the Hathaway-and-Roberta Flack classic "Where Is the Love" for the sound track of the 1995 film Dead Presidents, which went certified gold. He was let go from his recording contract with Capitol that same year.
Now Campbell, 42, says that he's more ready for mainstream success than ever before. And many who saw his performance on April 2 -- when he more than wowed the celebrity judges (Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton) with his performance of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" -- are inclined to agree. He garnered enough votes from the public to move to the next round of the vocal competition. The winner of The Voice will receive $100,000 and a recording contract with Universal Republic Records.