(February 13, 2019) O’Bryan Burnette was one of the more popular pop/soul singers of the mid-80s and landed a handful of hits under the moniker “O’Bryan” during his recording career.
A North Carolina native, O’Bryan moved to California as a young man and sang in Santa Ana’s Second Baptist Church choir. It was there that he was introduced to Philadelphia International musician and producer Ron “Have Mercy” Kersey. While the O’Bryan’s work with a group Kersey was putting together never materialized, the connection did result in an introduction to Soul Train host Don Cornelius, who in turn connected O’Bryan with Capitol Records, where he was signed.
Cornelius and O’Bryan remained close, ultimately resulting in O’Bryan recording the theme song for Soul Train, the hit single “Soul Train’s A Comin’.” It was one of many hits that O’Bryan would have over the next decade.
O’Bryan is still actively performing and recording. And recently, he was interviewed by EURWeb’s Lee Bailey, in a revealing interview that covered many topics, including an emotional discussion of the close relationship that O’Bryan had with Don Cornelius. Check it out below.
