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 •Name: Ricky Bell •Age: 33 •Height: 5'6 •Birthday: September 18, 1967 •Birthplace: Roxybury, Mass. •Resides: Los Angeles, California •Marital Status: Single•Current Projects: Solo Album, BBD album, and CEO of 3rd Vision Records |
In the beginning there was New Edition... Ralph Tresvant's lyrics from "Cool It Now" says it all: "Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike, if I like the girl, who cares who you like." They were the five Musketeers... Even when Bobby went solo, Johnny Gill slid right on in there... Then everybody just decided they wanted to go do their own thing... Bobby Brown was solo, Ralph Tresvant did a solo dip, Johnny Gill went solo as well... But Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe were like Chucky, friends to the end... The trio went on to form Bell, Biv, Devoe... While they did garner much success with singles like "Poison" and "Dope," they were largely responsible for starting that annoying trend that Lauryn Hill describes as "R&B singers/perpetratin' guns wit' two fingers." Now the year is 2G and all of the New Edition alums are doing their own thing, including Ricky Bell... We tripped when he told us he was coming out with a solo album... "I just try to do what I like to do musically," said Bell... "I didn't come out and say, 'Oh, I want my album to sound like this ... I'm not trying to have a specific sound... I just write what I'm feeling and I go with it." After Bell told us he was coming out with a solo album, we got up off the ground and asked him how does it feel to not have anyone backing him up on the vocal side of things... "It's just me on my own right now," Bell told us... "I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel... If you've heard of New Edition, you've heard of New Edition and I'm just expanding on that." Bell only let us listen to a small portion of his new album because our reputation as cut throat bootleggers has preceded us, just kidding! We only heard a small portion of the album, but what we did hear was not bad... In fact, it was different from anything on the radio today..."It wasn't a goal of mine to make it different," said Bell. "That's just the way it turned out. What I do is me, it just comes out. At the end of the day I just pick what I like the best." Ricky Bell's upcoming 16-song set is a self-titled piece. Its first single is titled "Spanish Fly" and will drop on August 16... The entire album is due out sometime in September on Bell's imprint, 3rd Vision Records... |  As a member of New Edition & BBD, both multi platinum selling groups, Ricky Bell has more than made a name for himself in the world of music... Born September 18, 1967, Bell began his musical career in 1978 with Bobby Brown & Michael Bivins... Bell, Brown, and Bivins became known as New Edition... The three performed locally around Roxbury Mass. until Ralph Tresvant & Ronnie DeVoe joined the group... Discovered in 1981 by music producer Maurice Starr, New Edition made their debut with "Candy Girl", which was also certified gold -- selling over 800,000 copies worldwide... Bell, along with New Edition skyrocketed to the top of the R&B & PoP charts and remained there throughout the '80's... After 1988's "Heart Break" album, all of the members of New Edition went solo... Bell teamed up with Ronnie DeVoe & Michael Bivins to form the trio Bell Biv DeVoe... Bell's vocals lead BBD to the top of the R&B & PoP charts..."Poison", BBD first album, would go on to sell over 4.2 million copies & remain on Billboards music charts for over 12 weeks... After releasing "Hootie Mack", Bell Biv DeVoe's 3rd album in 1993, Bell rejoined New Edition on 1996's "Home Again" album... In 2000, Bell released his solo album "Ricardo Campana..." "Poison"Release Date: '90 "WBBD - Boot City! The Remix Album"Release Date: '91 "Hootie Mack"Release Date: '93 "The Best Of Bell Biv DeVoe"Release Date: 2000 "Ricardo Campana"Release Date: 2000 |
