Luke James

In 2016, James auditioned for the role of singer Johnny Gill in the BET Biopic Miniseries The New Edition Story, after being considered by long time music associate Elijah Kelley. Both were cast in the biopic (with Kelley in the role of Ricky Bell). In 2017, James joined the main cast of Lee Daniels' Musical Drama, Star on FOX.

In 2005, he appeared in Destiny's Child's Soldier video, with the members of the Upskale music trio. In 2011, he was personally selected by R&B singer Beyoncé to appear as a model/actor in her "Run the World (Girls)" music video. In December 2011, he released his debut extended play (EP) album #Luke as a free digital download. His first single, "I Want You", received universal acclaim from critics for its production and for James' vocal performance. The single later earned him a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2012 Soul Train Music Awards. Upon release of his second free digital mixtape, Whispers in the Dark, in December 2012, James began to garner buzz for his formal self-titled debut album, which is expected to be released from Def Jam in early 2014. On January 8, 2013, the album's first single, "Make Love to Me", was released to iTunes one month after the music video directed by his manager Frank Gatson. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, James was nominated for Best R&B Performance award for his 2012 single "I Want You" (but he lost to Usher's "Climax"). On February 7, 2013, the song "I.O.U." was released as the second single from his anticipated debut album. In 2013, he was personally chosen by Beyoncé to be an opening act for her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. In August 2013 he released a video for "Oh God" featuring Hit-Boy; the music video was directed by Sarah McColgan. On December 4, 2013, he released another visual for "Strawberry Vapors", also directed by Sarah McColgan, the song was another release off the Whispers in the Dark album. On December 5, 2014, James received his second career Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Song for "Options (Wolfjames Version)".

Luke James Boyd (born June 13, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He began his musical career singing background for R&B artist Tyrese, where he met and was soon mentored for several years by Super producers The Underdogs with an acquaintance, Quentin, under Luke & Q. He was signed directly to J Records by Clive Davis himself and later wrote songs for musicians such as Chris Brown, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber. Under the management of record producer Danja, James released his first mixtape, #Luke, in 2011. The mixtape's critically acclaimed single "I Want You" earned him a Best R&B Performance nomination at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. Like the first project, he released his second mixtape, Whispers in the Dark, as a free music download in 2012. His self-titled debut studio album was released on September 23, 2014. In 2017, he starred as R&B singer Johnny Gill in the anticipated TV biopic of R&B sextet New Edition in BET's The New Edition Story. On February 21, 2017, James announced on Twitter the title of his second album would be 'JOY'.