Naturally 7
American music group
title: "Naturally 7" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["american-contemporary-r&b-musical-groups", "american-soul-musical-groups", "american-pop-music-groups", "professional-a-cappella-groups", "musical-groups-from-new-york-city"] description: "American music group" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturally_7" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American music group ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Naturally 7 |
| image | 2018-07-01 ZDF Fernsehgarten Naturally 7-0347.jpg |
| caption | Naturally 7 |
| image_size | 250px |
| background | group_or_band |
| origin | New York City, United States |
| genre | |
| years_active | 1999–present |
| label | |
| associated_acts | |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Naturally 7 | image = 2018-07-01 ZDF Fernsehgarten Naturally 7-0347.jpg | caption = Naturally 7 | image_size = 250px | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = New York City, United States | genre = | years_active = 1999–present | label = | associated_acts = | website = | current_members =
- Roger Thomas
- Warren Thomas
- Rod Eldridge
- Dwight Stewart
- Ricky Cort
- Sean Simmonds
- N'Namdi Bryant | past_members =
- Jamal Reed
- Marcus Davis
- Andre Edwards
- Armand "Hops" Hutton
- Napolien "Polo" Cummings
- Garfield Buckley
- Kelvin "Kelz" Mitchell ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Naturally_7_(ZMF_2018)_jm76324.jpg" caption="Naturally 7 at the [[Zelt-Musik-Festival]] 2018 in [[Freiburg]], [[Germany]]"] ::
Naturally 7 is an American music group with a distinct a cappella style they call "vocal play," which, according to group leader Roger Thomas, is "the art of becoming an instrument using the human voice to create the sound." They simulate the sounds of an instrumental band using only their voices, mouths and distortion effects. The group was formed in 1999 in New York City. It currently consists of the Thomas brothers Roger (musical director, arranger, first baritone, rapping) and Warren (drums, third tenor), Rod Eldridge (first tenor, scratching, guitar, trumpet), Ricky Cort (first tenor, guitar), Dwight Stewart (second baritone, vocals, trombone), Sean Simmonds (second tenor, harmonica), and N'Namdi Bryant (bass guitar, trumpet).
History
Early years
Naturally 7 was founded in 1999 by brothers Roger and Warren Thomas, from Rosedale, Queens. The brothers recruited five other singers they had come to know over the years of singing around the city. Roger was part of several traditional male groups over the years, thus developing his singing quality. When the group was invited to sing at a major a cappella competition in New York City, they won and moved onto the nationals before they took two more wins in the competition. Riding their new-found success and still having made no decision whether to have Naturally 7 as an a cappella group or a traditional band, Roger had the novel idea that the group would become both.
''Ready II Fly''
Naturally 7 has released a number of albums over the years since the formation at New York City in 1999, including their debut studio album entitled Non-Fiction released in 2000, What Is It released in 2003, Christmas... It's a Love Story released in 2004, and Ready II Fly in 2006, released through Virginia Records. The group gained success by the partial cover of Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight", titled as "Feel It (In the Air Tonight)", which contains additional lyrics from the group. The performance of the song at a subway has received over four and a half million hits on YouTube alone, and a number of people discovering the group, which adds to a figure daily. The single itself has turned into a Top 3-chart- success in countries outside North America, such as France, Belgium and South Africa, and also made the single charts in other European countries.
''Wall of Sound''
In January 2009, the group released Wall of Sound as an exclusive special album in the United Kingdom and Ireland to commemorate their participation at the Royal Variety Performance. It contains known material from their previous albums, as well as five brand new tracks, which entered the British Album-Charts in the first week after release at #29. The group appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, performing "Stardust" with Michael Bublé. In November 2009, the group travelled to Bermuda, as they took part in Quincy Jones's 2009 Bermuda Music Festival performing before an enthusiastic crowd.
''Vocal Play''
The CD/DVD version of Vocal Play, which was released in 2010, contains original self-made tracks, such as "SOS (Anybody Out There)", the power ballad of "Love Me", the Motown-influenced “Ready or Not”, the Latin 768 and a duet with Michael Bublé on the Dinah Washington classic, “Relax Max”. The DVD includes HD live material from their performance at Madison Square Garden, extensive interviews with each group member, as well as their video clips. In fall 2010, the group, along with American rapper Ludacris, were featured on a track that appeared in Quincy Jones's album, Soul Bossa Nostra, which led them to a performance at The View in November, before continuing on touring with Bublé. Naturally 7 contributed a few songs for the soundtrack of the 2010 German/English dub film Animals United, including "King of the Road", "Splish Splash", "Hokey Pokey", and "Move On Up".
Members
Current
::data[format=table]
| Name | Voice part | Primary vocal play role | Secondary vocal play roles | Years present |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Anthony Thomas | 1st baritone, 4th tenor, leader | rap | keyboard, synth, trumpet, strings, wah wah guitar | 1999 ~ present |
| Warren Andre Thomas | 3rd tenor | drums, percussion | trumpet, string, electric guitar | 1999 ~ present |
| Roderick Lowell Eldridge | 2nd tenor | DJ scratching, loop pedal | percussion, electric and rhythm guitar, trumpet, string, flute, keyboard, rap | 1999 ~ present |
| Dwight Martindale Stewart | 2nd baritone, lead vocal | trombone | rhythm guitar | 1999 ~ present |
| Lee Ricardo "Ricky" Cort | 1st tenor, lead vocal | electric guitar | trumpet, strings, synth, rap | Apr 2015 ~ present |
| Sean Anthony Simmonds | 3rd tenor, lead vocal | harmonica | trumpet, rap | May 2018 ~ present |
| N'Namdi Olufemi Bryant | bass | bass guitar | contrabass, bass synth | Aug 27th 2021 ~ present |
| :: |
Former
::data[format=table]
| Name | Voice part | Primary vocal play role | Secondary vocal play roles | Years present |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armand "Hops" Hutton | bass | bass guitar | contrabass, bass synth | Oct 2006 ~ Dec 2014, Dec 2020 ~ Aug 15th, Nov 6th 2021 |
| Kelvin “Kelz” Mitchell | bass | bass guitar | contrabass, trumpet, bass synth | Jan 2015 ~ Dec 2020 |
| Garfield Rolando Buckley | 2nd tenor | harmonica | trumpet, strings, rhythm guitar | 1999 ~ May 2018 |
| Napoleon “Polo” Cummings | 1st tenor | electric guitar | trumpet, strings, synth | Oct 2010 ~ Apr 2015 |
| Jamal Mackram Reed | 1st tenor | electric guitar, flute, violin | trumpet, synth, strings | 2000 ~ Oct 2010 |
| Andre Edwards | bass | bass guitar | 2006 ~ 2006 | |
| Marcus H. Davis | bass | bass guitar | 1999 ~ 2006 | |
| David LaRoche | 1st tenor | 1999 ~ 2000 | ||
| :: |
Timeline
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BarData = bar:RLE text:"Roderick Eldridge" bar:DMS text:"Dwight Stewart" bar:RAT text:"Roger Thomas" bar:WAT text:"Warren Thomas" bar:GRB text:"Garfield Buckely" bar:MHD text:"Marcus Davis" bar:DL text:"David LaRoche" bar:JMR text:"Jamal Reed" bar:AE text:"Andre Edwards" bar:AHH text:"Armand “Hops” Hutton" bar:NPC text:"Napoleon Cummings" bar:KKM text:"Kevin “Kelz” Mitchell" bar:LRC text:"Lee Ricardo Cort" bar:SS text:"Sean Simmonds" bar:NNB text:"N'Namdi Bryant"
PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:RLE from:01/01/1999 till:end color:Tenor1 bar:DMS from:01/01/1999 till:end color:baritone2 bar:RAT from:01/01/1999 till:end color:baritone1 bar:WAT from:01/01/1999 till:end color:percussion bar:GRB from:01/01/1999 till:05/01/2018 color:Tenor2 bar:MHD from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/2005 color:Bass bar:DL from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/1999 color:Tenor1 bar:JMR from:01/01/2000 till:10/01/2010 color:Tenor1 bar:AE from:01/01/2006 till:09/30/2006 color:Bass bar:AHH from:10/01/2006 till:01/01/2015 color:Bass bar:NPC from:10/01/2010 till:04/01/2015 color:Tenor1 bar:KKM from:01/01/2015 till:12/01/2020 color:Bass bar:LRC from:04/01/2015 till:end color:Tenor1 bar:SS from:05/01/2018 till:end color:Tenor2 bar:AHH from:12/01/2020 till:08/15/2021 color:Bass bar:NNB from:08/27/2021 till:end color:Bass
Discography
Studio albums
::data[format=table] | Year | Title | Peak chart positions | AUS | FRA | GER | UK | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 2000 | Non-Fiction | — | — | — | — | | | 2003 | What Is It? | 52 | — | 40 | — | | | 2004 | Christmas: It's a Love Story | — | — | — | — | | | 2006 | Ready II Fly | 14 | 64 | — | — | | | 2009 | Wall of Sound | — | — | — | 29 | | | 2010 | Vocal Play | — | — | — | — | | | 2012 | Live | — | — | — | — | | | 2015 | Hidden in Plain Sight | — | — | — | — | | | 2017 | Both Sides Now | — | — | — | — | | | 2018 | A Christmas Xperience | — | — | — | — | | | 2020 | XX 20/20 | — | — | — | — | | | 2024 | Naturally 7 @theMovies, Volume One | — | — | — | — | | ::
Singles
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | AUT | BEL (Vl) | BEL (Wa) | FRA | GER | ITA | SWI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Music Is the Key" | ||||||||
| (with Sarah Connor) | 6 | 3 | 11 | – | 1 | – | 2 | ||
| 2006 | "Feel It (In the Air Tonight)" | – | – | 3 | 15 | 55 | 14 | – | |
| :: |
Featured songs
- Xavier Naidoo: "Wild vor Wut" (featuring Naturally 7)
- Quincy Jones: "Soul Bossa Nostra" (featuring Ludacris, Naturally 7, & Rudy Currence) album Q: Soul Bossa Nostra
- Xavier Naidoo: "A New Horizon" (featuring Naturally 7) from the German/English dub film Animals United (2010). A "Vocal Play" version is included on the soundtrack, which was released on December 7, 2010 through Königskinder Music, and is also available on iTunes.
Other songs
The following songs are included on the soundtrack for the 2010 German/English dub film, Animals United:
- "King of the Road"
- "Splish Splash"
- "Move On Up"
- "Hokey Pokey"
MLK Day performance
In January 2016, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the group performed with The Maccabeats, a Jewish a cappella group from Yeshiva University, in a cover of James Taylor's "Shed a Little Light." The music video was filmed in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.
References
References
- "Naturally 7 Biography".
- ''Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi'' [http://www.billboard.com/artist/312060/naturally-7/biography Naturally 7 - Biography] ''[[Billboard (magazine). Billboard]]'' Retrieved November 15, 2014.
- [http://www.naturallyseven.com/biographies/naturally-7 Naturally 7 Biography] {{Webarchive. link. (May 2, 2012 Naturally 7 Retrieved November 15, 2014.)
- "Discography Naturally 7".
- "Discographie Naturally 7".
- "Naturally 7 {{!}} full Official Chart History". [[Official Charts Company]].
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232156/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Naturally+666/single GER single chart positions] [http://austriancharts.at/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Naturally+7 AUT FRA ITA SWI BE single chart positions]
- [https://music.apple.com/gb/album/animals-united-original-soundtrack/403989639 Animals United (Original Soundtrack)] ''[[iTunes]]'' Retrieved September 2, 2014
- (12 January 2016). "Watch: Maccabeats Release Song for MLK Jr. Day". Arutz Sheva.
- Herreria, Carla. (19 January 2016). "This A Capella-Beatbox Collaboration Is MLK's Dream Personified". [[The Huffington Post]].
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