Neville Peter is a talented singer who was on the path to fame as a jazz vocalist, but instead chose a different path for his career – and Christian music fans have benefited ever since.
Born and raised in the Virgin Islands, Peter began singing in church as a child. A degenerative eye disease caused him to completely lose his eyesight by age 12, but by 14 he was studying piano and using it as an accompaniment to his developing singing voice. In high school he was singing jazz, pop and R&B in clubs and was building a name for himself in local music circles. He moved to Florida as a young man to attend the University of Miami and there won the Down Beat Magazine award for best college male vocalist. He appeared to be a jazz star in the making until he resolved in 1998 to give up his secular music opportunities and devote himself exclusively to music of faith. Over the past 7 years he has written songs for a number of Gospel artists, including Gladys Knight and has performed with a virtual who’s who of contemporary Gospel artists.
In 2004, Peter recorded Messages from the Throne of Grace, an acoustic gospel album that included all original material and received notice among Gospel fans. He followed it up in 2005 with Simply Hymn, Volume One.
By Chris Rizik