Vel Omarr
Vel Omarr, according to his bio, was born in Mississippi Delta. His mother moved to Chicago in search of better things. Vel remained in Mississippi with his grandparents. He attended church on Sundays and recalls traveling to neighboring towns participating in or sometimes observing the “Gospel Fests”.
At the age of eight, Vel moved to Chicago and reunited with his mother. The first song he heard on the radio as the train pulled into the station was “You Send Me”, by Sam Cooke. Vel discovered his love for singing at the age of 14, and upon graduating, he decided to entertain the idea of singing as a way of life. In the early 1970s, Vel boarded a plane bound for Los Angeles to reposition himself, focus, and to pursue his dream as an entertainer.
Vel joined the legendary R&B/DooWop group, The Robins, as their second tenor lead singer, for a reunion tour in 1991. In 2003, he joined The Olympics as one of their lead singers and has performed alongside other legendary artists like Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Penguins, The Coasters, Gene Chandler, The Flamingos, Zola Taylor of the Platters, and many more.
As a singer in Brenton Woods Sweet Old School Revue, Vel has also opened for and appeared with such legendary greats as James Brown, Etta James, and Little Richard just to name a few.
As a solo artist, he released an independently-released CD in 2001 called “Vel Omarr Sings Sam Cooke & More”, which was inevitable since nobody can sound like Sam Cooke as well as Omarr. In 2008 he self-released the fantastic LP “How Can I Make You Mine”. Two tracks, “Lover’s De Ja Vu” “Stay Where You Are” featuring The Legendary Olympics who he is also the lead singer of.
Vel Omar is still singing and making music. Though he sings like Sam Cooke and credits him as his influence, Omarr is set to establish himself as an individual artist who just happens to bring back the spirit of Sam Cooke.
This morning Mr. Vel Omarr sent me some music for you to hear. I’m going to play a little bit of each song. You might also like to subscribe to Vel’s YouTube Channel. Just look up Vel Omarr’s “Soul Trilogy” _ Like and Subscribe. And to learn more about him, you can go to his website at Vel-omarr.com …..
Hear the story and his music at Spotify
