Tank (American singer)

Early life

Tank was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and moved with his family as a child to Washington, D.C.. He was a multisport athlete at Crossland High School and was offered the opportunity to play college football. However, Tank decided to focus on music and his talent eventually led him to an opportunity to sing background vocals for Ginuwine during one of Ginuwine's tours.

Music career

In 2001, following Ginuwine's successful tour, Tank released his debut album Force of Nature which spawned the top 40 single "Maybe I Deserve". In 2002, Tank released his second album One Man and a single of the same name.

Tank released his third solo album entitled Sex, Love & Pain in May 2007. The lead single of the album was "Please Don't Go", which peaked at number 42 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Later in the year Tank, Ginuwine and Tyrese Gibson formed a group called TGT. The group was put on hold due to contractual issues, but would go on to sign a contract with Atlantic Records in September 2012.

Tank released his fourth studio album, Now or Never, in December 2010. Tank collaborated with artists who included Chris Brown, Drake, Letoya Luckett on this project. The singles were "Sex Music", "I Can't Make You Love Me", and "Emergency".

Tank released his fifth studio album entitled This Is How I Feel in May 2012. Tank collaborated with the artists Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, T.I. and Kris Stephens on the album. The song "Compliments", featuring Kris Stephens and T.I., was released as the lead single in October 2011.

On September 14, 2013, Tank sang the U.S. national anthem before the Floyd Mayweather vs. Saúl Álvarez fight in Las Vegas, Nevada.

His sixth studio album Stronger was released in August 2014. It featured the singles "You're My Star" and the title track, both which peaked in the Top 20 of the Urban AC chart. The album marked a slight departure from his previous releases, focusing on a "retro R&B sound" for the album. Following disappointing sales of the release, as well as no support from his label, Tank had claimed the album would be his last.

In 2015, Tank released a mixtape album If You Were Mine in February. Additionally, later that year, Tank premiered a new single "You Don't Know" featuring Wale. It served as the lead single for his seventh studio album Sex Love & Pain II, released in January 2016. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart (marking his 5th album to do so) and #15 on the Billboard 200. A second single "#BDAY" followed later that year, in addition to a holiday EP A Classic Christmas Night in December, released independently.

In May 2017, he performed at DC's Black Gay Pride which garnered both criticism and praise, setting off a debate concerning the rare instances male R&B artists perform at LGBT events. With the performance of his track "F***in Wit Me" (off the Sex Love & Pain II album), the track cracked the iTunes R&B/Soul chart, despite not being officially released as a single.

Writing and producing

Tank's songwriting and production credits include working with Aaliyah, Beyoncé, Dave Hollister, Kelly Rowland, Marques Houston, Omarion, Jamie Foxx, Pitbull, Donell Jones and Monica as a member of the production team The Underdogs and with his own team, Song Dynasty.

Acting

He was a contributor to the score of the film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls, in which he had a cameo. He was also featured in the movie Preacher's Kid. He also played recording company executive Jheryl Busby in The New Edition Story aired in 2017 on BET.

Personal life

He got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Zena Foster on January 16th, 2017. They've been together since 2005 and share two children, Zion and Zoey.

Tank is also the father of three more children from previous relationships: Jordan, Ryen, and Durrell Jr..

Discography

Solo albums

Collaborative albums