Jermaine Paul (born July 26, 1979) is an American singer. He was the winner of the second season of The Voice. Prior to his The Voice stint, he was co-nominated at the 48th Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, in a collaborative work with Alicia Keys as the featured artist. 　　Early life 　　Jeremiah Jermaine Paul was born on July 26, 1979, in Harriman, New York, and was raised in Spring Valley, New York, the fifth of 10 children. His father encouraged his involvement in music by "turning their living room into a musical performance area". "It was loaded with instruments—piano, drums and guitars—and some of the kids, including Jermaine, formed a group to perform gospel songs in local churches." By the time he was 12 years old, he began to acquire a reputation for singing at local churches and talent shows with his family. Jermaine joined numerous adult choirs. 　　At the age of two, Jermaine and his brother moved to Alabama with their grandfather. There, he was introduced to the guitar. He played his step-grandmother's old Gibson guitar at the local church. With some knowledge of the guitar, and the yearning to go back to New York, he wrote his first song. 　　At the age of 14, he moved back to his birthplace in up-state New York to Harriman (Hudson Valley). There he attended Monroe-Woodbury High School and was introduced to rock and jazz. While taking guitar lessons he was selected to join the all-state, all-county chorus, and the classically trained high school voice ensemble. 　　Music career 　　At 15, Paul joined a quartet group named 1Accord and signed to basketball star Shaquille O'Neal's label, T.W.Is.M Records. He began writing and producing songs of his own. Paul auditioned for the first season of American Idol but did not receive any callbacks from the producers. He began recording backing vocals for artists such as Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Joss Stone, Blackstreet and Jaguar Wright. He was nominated for a Grammy for the category "Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals" for "If This World Were Mine" by Alicia Keys featuring Jermaine Paul. The track was from the J Records album So Amazing: An All-Star Tribute to Luther Vandross.