By Chris Piner, American Songwriter | With both parents having a rich background in music, it was as if Manuel Seal was destined to follow in their footsteps. And that’s exactly what he did when he explored a career as a composer, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His talents caught the eye of more than a few icons when he collaborated with Usher, Janet Jackson, Destiny’s Child, TLC, Aretha Franklin, and Mariah Carey. Just a sample of the legacy he left behind, sadly, Seal passed away at 66.
Seal’s longtime friend Jermaine Dupri shared the news of his passing. Posting a statement on Instagram, the caption read, “Today I lost the first person to really understand me musically, Manuel Seal, he had a answer for every one of my ideas, that’s how he became the voice, singing funkdafied, he had a spirit and a presence that I never wanted to leave me.
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Leaving his mark across several genres of music, Seal received a staggering 13 Grammy nominations. Among those nominations, the producer won one. And that came from his work with Carey on “We Belong Together.” Released on her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi, the song climbed the charts, peaking at No. 1 on the US Pop 100, the US Billboard Hot 100, and the US Pop Airplay.
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Read more here:
https://americansongwriter.com/grammy-winning-songwriter-and-producer-behind-mariah-carey-and-usher-classics-dead-at-66/
From Wikipedia:
Manuel Lonnie Seal Jr. (September 26, 1960 – September 27, 2026) was an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, vocal coach and arranger. He was credited, often in tandem with Jermaine Dupri, on releases by Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Usher, TLC, Aretha Franklin, Xscape, Cherish, Tyrese, Alicia Keys, Gerald Levert, Marc Dorsey and Destiny’s Child, among others.
Seal received one Grammy Award from 13 nominations.
Manuel Lonnie Seal Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 26, 1960, to parents Manuel and Betty Seal. He also had two younger sisters. The family moved to Freeport, Illinois when Manuel was three. Both of his parents had musical backgrounds and they got him into piano lessons at the age of 5. His father was in a band, sang and played multiple instruments and his mother sang in the church choir. They lived in the projects and when Manuel was 10, his father left the family, moving back to Chicago. . . . Manuel started playing the flute at that time. He was already excelling at the piano and wanted to learn every instrument he could. By high school, he had formed a band and traveled to the few towns near him to perform. He was performing at bars (while being underage) and picked up a huge fan base throughout the Midwest. He traveled extensively, performing and perfecting his skills as a musician.
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He began work with Al Jarreau. The first major success came with Xscape. Manuel wrote, produced and arranged their first album, Hummin’ Comin’ at ‘Cha (1993). He wrote two #1’s and a top 10 on that album. The surprise hit on that album was “Understanding”, which Manuel wrote in his hotel room one night between sessions.
Da Brat’s Funkdafied (1994) was the next huge success for him. He is the vocals on the lead single “Funkdafied”, and composed all the music on the album. It was the first time a female rapper reached Platinum status. TLC’s CrazySexyCool (1994) sold 23 million copies worldwide. Manuel wrote three songs on that album. Usher’s My Way (1997) album went 7× Platinum and Manuel wrote seven of the ten songs on the album, including “You Make Me Wanna”, “My Way”, and “Nice and Slow”. Mariah Carey’s Daydream (1995) album sold 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Manuel co-wrote “Always Be My Baby”, among others. He went on to write numerous hits for Jagged Edge, Aretha Franklin, Destiny’s Child, Bebe Winans, LSG, Johnny Gill, George Benson, Tamia, Aaron Hall, Mary J. Blige, Monica, Lionel Richie, Ashanti and Gerald Levert.
Major success came with “My Boo” from Usher’s Confessions (2004, Special Edition), which went on to sell more than 10 million copies in America. Seal also won a Grammy Award for his contribution on Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” from The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). He continued with Mariah Carey’s follow-up album E=MC² (2008), Usher’s Here I Stand (2008), and Janet Jackson’s 20 Y.O. (2006) and Discipline (2008).
Seal died on September 27, 2026, one day after his 66th birthday.
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Read Mr. Seal’s full bio here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Seal
Photo: Manuel Seal | From Terry Dexter’s Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063470620333
