![]() ![]() Terrence Murphy says he declined, instead opting to team up with Torriano Easely on a project with Hi-Five’s original managers, Vincent Bell and Robert Ford. ![]() According to Sanders they approached other members to reunite. To honor Thompson’s last wish, they say, Irby, Sanders and Gill started rebuilding, and updating the brand’s sound through Irby’s independent label, Bronx Most Wanted. “I did some soul-searching to figure why God had left me here and said, ‘It has to be the music thing. It wasn’t until 2009-when Irby, an innocent bystander outside a Connecticut nightclub, was shot five times-that the vision to carry on the Hi-Five legacy became clear. “I just put music to the side ,” says Gill. On the heels of the group’s reconciling, Thompson lost his battle with addiction and died of an overdose. Even though everyone in a group plays his part, there’s one thing these fellas will tell you: Tony Thompson will always be the heart of Hi-Five. “He wanted to make songs people would remember.” The dimple-faced heartthrob’s melodic opening flourishes, timeless clear tone and soulful inflections were his signature and Hi-Five’s musical stamp. “Tony fashioned a musical style of his own,” says Riley. Sweet and angelic, rich and commanding, it could tell a story the way only few can. Famed producer Teddy Riley’s new jack swing tracks helped Hi-Five score a Billboard R&B top ten with “I Just Can’t Handle It” and then soar with its Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop number one, “The Kissing Game.” Other top tens and indelibles followed, but so did lineup changes (after the first single’s release, Bronx-bred Treston Irby replaced Easely, who was arrested and later sent to prison for manslaughter) life-altering injuries (a tour bus crash left Clark paralyzed) internal strife (Terrence Murphy and Shannon Gill replaced the injured Clark and Neal, who quit due to money squabbles) and a business deal that led to the group’s disbanding in 1994 as Thompson went solo.ĭuring their run, though, the boys charmed young and old, thanks to their classic tunes-and lead singer Tony Thompson’s effortless tenor. Made up of Texas teens the late Tony Thompson, Toriano Easley, Marcus Sanders, Roderick “Pooh” Clark and Neal, the group debuted its self-titled album in 1990. It’s the latest unfortunate event the group has endured. The month before, former member Russell Neal was charged with murder in the death of his wife in Houston. ![]() TV One’s Unsungaired Hi-Five’s story in August. Yet they are experienced men now, having undergone tragedy and daunting learning curves. Storming the stage, they break into their 1992 smash “She’s Playing Hard to Get” and move with an enthusiasm reminiscent of when they first hit the music scene as teens. ESSENCE caught up with them on a muggy September night in the Bronx, where more than 500 fans have packed New York City’s Dreiser Auditorium to see them headline the 2014 End of Summer Soul Jam. The legendary 90s R&B group Hi-Five, known for such classics as “I Like the Way (The Kissing Game),” is back! With a new EP and lineup, the fellas are on a mission to reclaim the charts and capture the hearts of fans, old and new. ![]()
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