b. Tommy Sims, 23rd August 1960, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Born in Chicago, Tommy Sims family were all involved in music to a greater or lesser extent.
His mother and two sisters were singers, whilst his mother's parents were devout Baptists.
From an early age Tommy mainly listened to Gospel music, although his uncles played secular music by the likes of the Temptations and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.
It wasn't until Tommy was around eight years old, that he began listening to secular music on a more regular basis.
Tommy's estranged father, an avid record collector, involved himself in Tommy's upbringing.
He played him various artists including Barry White and Otis Redding along with Blue Eyed Soul performers such as Jose Feliciano and Tony Orlando.
Tommy's father remarried and Tommy's new stepbrother began taking bass lessons.
As a result, Tommy picked up on the instrument, with his tutor describing a young Tommy as a natural.
The instructor proclaimed him a natural at age 11.
At 12 years old, Tommy was writing songs, penning his own lyrics to his take on the Commodores song, 'Sweet Love'.
When he was 13, Tommy relocated to Cassopolis, Michigan to be closer to his grandfather who had set up his own church.
By this time, his interests had become solely, music and basketball, which conflicted with his mother, his grandparents and their churches aspirations for the young man.
The Church ministers burned his entire record collection.
He then graduated from Cassopolis Ross Beatty High School in 1983.
Tommy later studied music at Western Michigan College and the University of Michigan, with his intention to go into teaching music.
But after college, he and some friends and began to travel, playing gigs in various cities, which subsequently took him to Nashville.
Here he played with several musicians and friends and even appeared on an album that was never released, whilst continuing to write songs.
As his lyric writing developed, between 1990 and 1992, Tommy relocated to Los Angeles where he wrote, produced and programmed songs for Don Gehman.
with bruce springsteen's band in 1992 (tommy is third from the right at the back)
Bruce Springsteen, one day, called the studio looking for Tommy.
Bruce had heard of Tommy's growing musical reputation and wanted Tommy to jam with his band.
They played together for three days straight, after which Bruce asked Tommy to join him on tour.
Thus, at the age of 32, he had his first big break.
In 1996, Tommy was awarded a Grammy for Song of the year for penning the tune 'Change The World,' which was produced by Babyface and performed by Eric Clapton.
Tommy went off to write and produce for many artists including Bruce Springsteen, Michael Bolton, Amy Grant, Wynonna Judd, BLACKstreet, CeCe Winans, The Neville Brothers and Garth Brooks.
peace and love - 2000
In 2000, his first, self penned and written, solo album entitled 'Peace And Love', was released.
The album was recorded utilising real instrumentation, for melodies penned over a 15 year period.
On 'Which Way,' (a Jim Croce song his aunt introduced him to when he was eight), Tommy played the song with just his guitar and harmonica.
One song, highly popular in the U.K., entitled, 'A New Jam' was written as a mark of respect to the music of Marvin Gaye and Bobby Womack.
Another song, 'Summer' features Stevie Wonder.
'It Don't Matter to the Sun', was featured on the soundtrack of the television drama Grey's Anatomy.
He currently resides In Brentwood, Tennessee and is active in the Nashville Gospel music scene.
Albums:
Peace And Love (Universal Records 2000)
