ATLANTA, GA – January 5, 2015 – Operation HOPE the leading global financial dignity nonprofit, today announced that Grammy Award winning Howard Hewett will perform for Forum attendees at the Thursday reception. Hewitt is noted for his solo career and such hits as "Second Time Around", "Make That Move", "A Night to Remember", "Dancing in the Sheets" and the ballad "This Is for the Lover in You" with Shalamar.
A noted American R&B and gospel singer, and former lead vocalist of the R&B group Shalamar, Hewett was raised in Akron, Ohio, and moved to Los Angeles. There he met John and Alonzo Daniels, owners of an historical club in the LA Crenshaw district, called Maverick's Flat. It was at Maverick's that Hewett first met Jeffrey Daniel and Jody Watley (eventually the group became Shalamar).
When Shalamar broke up in the mid-1980s, Hewett went on to a successful solo career. Hewett signed his solo deal with Elektra Records and in1986, releasing his first solo album, I Commit To Love (R&B number 12), a solid urban album that yielded two R&B hits, "I’m For Real" (R&B number 2) and "Stay" (R&B number 8). The album also included "Say Amen", a gospel tune that became a surprise hit on the Gospel as well as Urban charts and is one of Hewett's many signature songs.