Gregory Porter

Gregory Porter is an American singer, songwriter, and musician born on November 4, 1971, in Sacramento, California, who appeared on Broadway in 1999 as a member of the original cast of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues. He has won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album twice, first in 2014 for Liquid Spirit and again in 2017 for Take Me to the Alley.

Porter grew up in Bakersfield, California, where his mother Ruth, a minister, encouraged him to sing in church from an early age. He is one of eight siblings. His father, Rufus, was largely absent from his life. After graduating from Highland High School in 1989, Porter enrolled at San Diego State University on a full athletic scholarship as a football lineman, but a shoulder injury during his junior year ended his football career. His mother died of cancer when he was 21; her final instruction to him was to sing.

Porter relocated to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2004 alongside his brother Lloyd, working as a chef at Lloyd's restaurant, Bread-Stuy. He performed there as well as at neighborhood venues including Sista's Place and Solomon's Porch before establishing a weekly residency at Harlem's St. Nick's Pub, from which his touring band eventually developed.

His recording career began with two albums on the Motéma label in partnership with Membran Entertainment Group: Water in 2010 and Be Good in 2012. Water received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and Be Good earned nominations including one for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards for the track "Real Good Hands." Porter signed with Blue Note Records under Universal Music Group on May 17, 2013. His third album, Liquid Spirit, produced by Brian Bacchus, was released on September 2, 2013, in Europe and September 17, 2013, in the United States. The album reached the top 10 on the UK album charts, was certified gold by the BPI with sales exceeding 100,000 units in the UK, and won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2014. His fourth album, Take Me to the Alley, was released on May 6, 2016, and earned him his second Grammy in that category in 2017. His sixth studio album, All Rise, was released on August 28, 2020. A greatest hits compilation, Still Rising - The Collection, followed on November 5, 2021, on the Blue Note label. A Christmas album, Christmas Wish, was released in 2023.

Porter's live performances have included the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2016, Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park in September 2016, and the Later... with Jools Holland: Later 25 concert at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2017. On June 2, 2022, accompanied by the London Community Gospel Choir, he sang the specially composed song "A Life Lived with Grace" for the lighting of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Beacons. On September 14, 2023, he released the single "Somebody" in collaboration with TSHA and Ellie Goulding. In 2025, Porter participated in the sixth season of The Masked Singer UK as "Dressed Crab," finishing in second place.

On May 12, 2021, Porter launched a cooking show, The PorterHouse with Gregory Porter, presented by Citi, which aired six episodes. Porter is married to Victoria, and they have two sons. The family's home is in Bakersfield, California. His brother Lloyd died in May 2020 from complications related to COVID-19. For public appearances, Porter wears a hat resembling a newsboy cap that covers his ears and chin — specifically a Kangol Summer Spitfire — a style he adopted following skin surgery and facial scarring he sustained around the age of seven or eight.