Interview: All-4-One On Still Being Successful After 26 Years, Who They Would Collaborate With, Performing At Made In The '90s, & More.
All-4-One is a popular R&B ensemble formed in the 90’s who have provided the world with some of its best love songs. You may remember them from their timeless hit, “I Swear”, which was the #1 selling single in 1994, the song that still holds a spot on Billboard’s “Hot 100” as one of the most successful singles of all time and is named by ASCAP as one of the greatest songs of the 20th century. The 4 members, Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez, and Tony Borowiak have made their mark in history with not only that classic but songs like, “I Can Love You Like That” and have had their songs featured in multiple films and tv shows like Space Jam, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Simpsons. 26 years later, the group has never broken up, they’re as tight-knit as ever before and have been touring the world ever since.
This March, All-4-One will be coming to New Zealand to perform at Made In The ‘90s, alongside Next, Mario Winans, Blackstreet and others. 2 of the All-4-One crew, Jamie Jones and Tony Borowiak sat down and talked about how the masterpiece “I Swear” came to life, new music, being fans of Ed Sheeran, how music is different now from the 90’s, and how excited they are to come back to NZ in this new interview.
Hey guys. Let’s get right into it. How was All-4-One formed, what was the story behind that?
Well, the story was I met, this is Jamie speaking, I met Tony and Alfred at a talent show when we were all still barely out of high school and I got their phone numbers and thought they were amazing. I called them not too long afterwards and we did some radio station jingles together and we realized we liked singing together and then not too long after that I met a producer in church who gave me a copy of our very first song So Much In Love and said “listen, if you could put together a group that can sing, I can get you a record deal”. So I called Tony and Alfred of course, but we needed one more person and so Tony and I went to a karaoke show trying to win some money, and that’s where we met our fourth member, Delious. We got his number, we all went to a local themepark here in LA called Six Flags Magic Mountain and rehearsed the song Everywhere We Went and when we got the audition for the record label, they signed us on the spot.
That’s quite a story! So how does it feel to still be performing together after all these years? I see you guys are still doing a lot of shows and that’s really impressive.
You know, it’s amazing. 25 years, you know, we’ve never broke up. We’ve done shows every year and it’s just been amazing. It’s fun being with some of your best friends and being able to do what you love.
Did you think your song “I Swear” would take off the way it did and eventually win a Grammy?
We all knew that the song was good. I don’t think any of us knew or were prepared for what was gonna happen. You know, it was a country song first and I remember when the record label, the president of the label called us into his office and had us listen to it and I remember when I first heard it, I was like, this is a country song and we’re R&B, it’s like, this aint gon’ work. And he said, well we’re gonna get David Foster to produce it and David Foster had just did I Will Always Love You for Whitney Houston and so we said okay and the rest is just history. It really worked out great for everybody involved.
Do you still get fans coming up to you guys talking about how much your love songs like I Swear or I Love You Like That has impacted their lives? Because they’re truly classics and I know for a fact they’re still excessively listened to today.
Oh absolutely. Like all the time, people are coming up to us like oh we got married to your song and stuff like that, yet alone the amount of children we helped bring into this world.
You seemed to be the go-to artist for movie soundtracks, from The First Kid and Space Jam to Hunchback of Notre Dame. How did that become a new lane for you back then?
You know, we were just very blessed that people choosing music for their movies were either fans of ours or fans of our music and it just worked out well. I don’t think it was anything we did or specifically trying to get our music into those movies, things like that, I think it was just, like I said, having people who like what we do and wanted to have our music in their movies which is always amazing.
All-4-One did “I Turn To You” for the Space Jam soundtrack in, I think, 1996. Later, Christina Aguilera did a remake to the song in 1999. What did you think about her version?
It was great, yeah. *Tony chimes in from the background*: I love her! She basically did a cover of it after us and yeah it was really good! It did really well for her.
What’s one of your favourite countries or even cities that you’ve toured in the past and you continuously enjoy going there and even performing there?
Every single one has a special place in our heart, whether it’s Australia, New Zealand, you know what, everywhere, just going out of the state and seeing the different fans, it’s just all about the love.
So, have you guys ever come to New Zealand before because I know you were supposed to come last year but I think it was postponed to your performance in March
Yeah, we were supposed to come and then one of our members was having a medical procedure so we had to postpone it but we have been there. We actually came early on in our careers and everytime, we actually came a few times, and everytime we were there like, it was just one of the most amazing, the most beautiful places we’ve ever been to. We were actually pretty, uh, bummed when we had to reschedule but now we’re super excited again that we’ll be able to come and see our New Zealand fans.
Do you have any plans to get into the studio and record new music?
Yeah, we’ve actually been working on some new stuff now. This year is our 26th anniversary of us being together so we’ve been working on some music that we’ll hopefully get the chance to put out this year.
When you guys first entered the music scene, it was such a time for RnB, a lot of which my generation would kill to of been an adult or even a teenager in that time. What’s your thoughts on RnB in 2020 and how would you compare that to the 90’s?
Oooo. They have their own style. Yeah, I was about to say it’s definitely very different. The biggest difference for me is GUYS. ‘Cause in the 90’s, like, guys were never afraid to be vulnerable, to say I love you or I miss you or I messed up or I want you back and now the guys are a lil too cool. There’s only a handful of guys, like, Bruno Mars or John Legend, or you know, Ed Sheeran that would kinda do a song that we would’ve recorded in the 90’s. A lot of the guys now are just way too cool.
So I know All 4 One had a residency in Las Vegas last year for the I Love 90’s tour. What do you prefer more, a residency in Las Vegas or touring?
Both! You know, I was waiting for you to say that. Yeah, haha, we want it all! They both have their advantages. You know, when you get a chance to go to new places and see new people, there’s nothing that can take the place of that but at the same time it’s also too when you can actually sleep in the same bed every night and make sure you’re getting good rest, so, they’re both fun.
So for both of you, what’s your favourite All-4-One song that you love performing?
Tony: We were talking about this earlier and it’s tough. ‘Cause they’re like our babies and we love them all but I like when do She’s Got Skillz, we’re having fun and we have outfits to wear..
Jamie: Yeah, it’s hard, it’s definitely hard to just choose one.
Are there any artists you or the artist would love to collaborate with?
Yeah, I mean, there are definitely some of the newer artists, like some of the ones I mentioned earlier. We were just in South Africa, doing a concert and Ed Sheeran was there and we had the chance to go see him and talk to him. He was super cool. It would be amazing to partner up with one of the younger artists of today and you know, mix the flavours of the two different generations.
What can fans expect from All-4-One’s performance at Made In The ‘90s?
Well, I think fans are gonna expect a good time, like we’re gonna do the love songs everybody wants to hear but we also just like to have fun while we’re on stage and you know, we have the best job ever to hopefully make people happy and to bring good memories back to people and we take that very seriously. We just plan on doing the best show that we possibly can do, and like I said, just bringing some good memories back of the time that was much simpler and just some good music.
Well, that’s beautiful! Is there anything you’d like to mention before we end the interview or anything you want to say to your fans?
We just wanna say we love you, come out and see us and have a good time!
Tickets are currently on sale from HERE to see All-4-One perform at Made In The ‘90s.
Interviewed By: Breanna Tugaga-Rogers
@bretugs