Boney James (born James Oppenheim September 1, 1961) is an American saxophonist, recording artist, songwriter and record producer.
He is a four-time Grammy Award nominee (Best Pop Instrumental Album, 2001, 2004, 2014 and Best Traditional R&B Performance, 2009) and a Soul Train Award winner (Best Jazz Album 1998). He has also received three NAACP Image Award nominations for Best Jazz Album. James has sold over four million albums, and has accumulated four RIAA Certified Gold Records. In 2009, Billboard magazine named James one of the Top 3 Billboard Contemporary Jazz Artists of the Decade. In 2024 James became the first artist to notch 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard magazine SJ Chart.
Biography Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, James took up the clarinet at the age of eight, switching to sax when he was ten. James spent his early teen years in New Rochelle, New York. He became musically influenced by the R&B Motown genre and saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. When he was fourteen his family moved to Los Angeles, where he joined a fusion band that opened for acts like Flora Purim and the Yellowjackets. Another member of this early band was John Shanks, now a successful pop producer and guitarist with Bon Jovi. James eventually received a degree in history from UCLA, but began playing music full-time after graduation. James learned to play keyboards and in 1985 he joined Morris Day's band. His R&B influence was further strengthened by seven years of touring and sessions as a sideman with Day, The Isley Brothers, Bobby Caldwell, Randy Crawford, Teena Marie and others. It was on the road with Crawford in 1986 that he earned his now-famous moniker, when his physique led a bandmate to joke "We'll have to start calling you 'Boney' James!"
In the early 1990s, while on tour with Bobby Caldwell's band, he met engineer and producer Paul Brown, beginning a 10-year period of collaboration. In 1992 he released his debut album as a leader, Trust, on the independent record label Spindletop Records. Following the record's success, he was signed by the Warner Brothers label in 1994, on which he released the RIAA Certified Gold Records Seduction, Sweet Thing and Body Language albums.
In 2000 he collaborated with trumpeter Rick Braun on an album called Shake it Up. Their duets include the now classic updated version of Hugh Masakela's "Grazin' in the Grass". Other artists who have made guest appearances on Boney's records include October London, Lalah Hathaway, Raheem DeVaughn, Faith Evans, George Benson, George Duke, Dwele, Al Jarreau, Philip Bailey, Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim, Eric Benét, Dave Hollister, Stokley Williams, Avery*Sunshine, Kenny Lattimore and Angie Stone.
James began co-producing his records with Brown in 1997, and assumed the role of sole producer starting with his Grammy-nominated Pure album in 2003. Following a string of chart-topping albums, in 2006 James moved to Concord Records and released Shine which posted his highest Billboard Pop Chart positions to that date (No. 44 on the Top 200). His 2009 album, Send One Your Love earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance. His 2013 album The Beat received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
Returning home from a concert performance on May 15, 2010, his car was rear ended by a drunk driver, causing him a fractured jaw, two shattered teeth and facial lacerations which sidelined his career for two months.
In 2014, he produced two songs on Al Jarreau's George Duke tribute album My Old Friend, "No Rhyme No Reason" (feat. Kelly Price) and "Bring Me Joy" (feat. George Duke).
In 2015, he released futuresoul which spent eleven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and was the best selling Contemporary Jazz Record of 2015. In August 2015, James made his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
2017 saw the release of Honestly, his sixteenth album, which became his eleventh No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart. It also reached No. 22 on the Billboard Current Albums Chart, his highest pop chart debut to date.
June 2020 he released his seventeenth studio album Solid, describing it as "a reaction to how stressful the world feels these days. Music is a respite, it’s always ‘solid’ and never lets me down." The CD broke his previous Pop Chart record, debuting at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Albums Chart. His eighteenth album Detour was released on September 23, 2022.
Personal life James is married to actress and director Lily Mariye and in 2012 he contributed an original score to her directorial feature film debut, Model Minority.
Discography Studio albums Year Album Label 1992 Trust Spindletop 1994 Backbone Warner Bros. 1995 Seduction 1997 Sweet Thing 1999 Body Language 2001 Ride 2004 Pure 2006 Shine Concord 2009 Send One Your Love 2011 Contact Verve 2013 The Beat Concord 2015 Futuresoul 2017 Honestly 2020 Solid 2022 Detour 2024 Slow Burn 2026 A Simple Man
Collaboration albums Year Album Label 2000 Shake It Up – Warner Bros.
Holiday albums Year Album Label 1996 Boney's Funky Christmas Warner Bros. 2007 Christmas Present Concord 2025 'Tis the Season
Score contributions Year Album Label 2000 The Shangri-la Café Nice Girl 2012 Model Minority
Singles Year Title Peak chart positions Album Smooth JazzAirplay Adult R&BAirplay pkwks 2005 "2:01 A.M." 121 — Pure "2:01 A.M." – Nov 5: 2006 "The Total Experience" 14 — Shine "The Total Experience" – Nov 11 / Dec 2 / Dec 9 / Dec 30:
2007 "Hypnotic" 13 — "Hypnotic" – Jun 9 / Jun 16 / Jun 23:
2008 "Skating" 271 — Christmas Present "Skating" – Jan 12: "The First Noel" 291 — "The First Noel" – Jan 12: "Let It Go" 13 — Shine "Let It Go" – Jan 19 / Feb 2 / Feb 16:
"The Way She Walks" 174 — "The Way She Walks" – Aug 23 / Sep 13 / Sep 20 / Nov 15:
2009 "Stop, Look, Listen" 18 — Send One Your Love "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" – Mar 7 / Mar 14 / Mar 21 / Mar 28 / Apr 4 / Apr 11 / Apr 18 / Apr 25:
"Send One Your Love" 52 — "Send One Your Love" – Aug 1 / Aug 8:
2010 "Touch" 61 — "Touch" – Jan 30: "I'll Be Good to You" 301 — "I'll Be Good to You" – Feb 27: 2011 "Contact" 15 — Contact "Contact" – May 7 / May 14 / May 21 / May 28 / Jun 4:
"Spin" 14 — "Spin" – Oct 8 / Oct 15 / Oct 22 / Oct 29:
2012 "Cry" 21 — "Cry" – Mar 10: "Deep Time" 101 — "Deep Time" – Aug 18: 2013 "Batucada (The Beat)" 18 — The Beat "Batucada (The Beat)" – Apr 13 / Apr 20 / Apr 27 / May 4 / May 11 / May 18 / May 25 / Jun 1:
"Powerhouse" 12 — "Powerhouse" – Oct 12 / Oct 19:
2014 "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" 21 — "Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" – Apr 12: "Sunset Boulevard" 44 — "Sunset Boulevard" – Oct 11 / Oct 25 / Nov 8 / Nov 15:
2015 "Drumline" 16 — Futuresoul "Drumline" – May 23 / May 30 / Jun 6 / Jun 13 / Jun 20 / Jun 27:
"Vinyl" 12 — "Vinyl" – Nov 7 / Nov 14:
2016 "A Little Attitude" 11 — "A Little Attitude" – Apr 30: "Futuresoul" 141 — "Futuresoul" – Oct 15: 2017 "Tick Tock" 14 — Honestly "Tick Tock" – Oct 14 / Oct 21 / Oct 28 / Nov 4:
2018 "On the Prowl" 13 — "On the Prowl" – Apr 7 / Apr 14 / Apr 21:
"Up All Night" 14 — "Up All Night" – Sep 1 / Sep 8 / Sep 15 / Sep 22:
2019 "Kicks" 151 — "Kicks" – Feb 2: 2020 "Solid" 11 — Solid "Solid" – May 23: "Full Effect" 12 — "Full Effect" – Oct 17 / Oct 24:
2021 "Tonic" 121 — "Tonic" – May 29: "Sundance" 11 — "Sundance" – Dec 25: 2022 "Bring It Back" 11 — Detour "Bring It Back" – Oct 1: "Coastin — 171 "Coastin – Jan 14: 2023 "Detour" 63 — "Detour" – Apr 22 / May 6 / Jul 8:
"Memphis" 21 — "Memphis" – Dec 30: 2024 "All I Want Is You" 232 — Slow Burn "All I Want Is You" – Oct 19 / Oct 26:
"Slide" 13 — "Slide" – Dec 7 / Jan 11 / Jan 18:
2025 "Sugar" 21 — "Sugar" – May 10: "The Bounce" 11 — "The Bounce" – Dec 13: 2026 "I Belong to You" — 182 A Simple Man "I Belong to You" – Oct 3 / Oct 10:
"Storybook" 241 — "Storybook" – Oct 10: "—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
Collaborations Year Artist Title Peak chart positions Album Label Smooth JazzAirplay Adult R&BAirplay pkwks 2005 Ledisi "My Sensitivity (Gets in the Way)" — 181 Forever, for Always, for Luther GRP "My Sensitivity (Gets in the Way)" – Apr 2: 2012 Jonathan Fritzén "Magical" 13 — Magical Nordic Night "Magical" – Oct 27 / Nov 3 / Nov 10:
2014 Al Jarreau (featuring George Duke) "Bring Me Joy" 51 — My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke Concord "Bring Me Joy" – Sep 6: 2018 Brian Simpson "Persuasion" 231 — Persuasion Shanachie "Persuasion" – Feb 3: 2019 Peabo Bryson "Looking for Sade" 271 — Stand for Love Perspective "Looking for Sade" – Feb 9: 2024 Big Mike Hart "Cigar Lounge" 13 — Modern Classic Rhythm Section "Cigar Lounge" – Apr 20 / May 4 / May 11:
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
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