Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men Gives a Lesson on Empathy During Billboard Live At-Home Concert.
Via Billboard:
Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men hosted a Billboard Live At-Home concert Friday (April 24) to raise money for both the Downtown Women’s Center, which empowers homeless women in LA, and his own nonprofit Micah’s Voice, which provides hope for families with autistic relatives.
Stockman revived his music of yesteryear by acoustically performing a “Do You Remember” and “Water Runs Dry” medley of Boyz II Men’s throwback hits. The livestream show further commemorated the vocal group’s golden era when his plaque from their 1995 Mariah Carey duet “One Sweet Day” peeked out in the lefthand corner. Their joint hit reigned atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks and became the longest-running No. 1 on the all-genre tally (a record only broken last year by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road”) and is certified triple-platinum as of last fall.
But before breaking out into the songs from his debut solo album Foreword, which he released earlier this month, Stockman had to get a word in for his friends and family living in Georgia after Gov. Brian Kemp reopened certain businesses such as barbershops and hair salons, tattoo parlors and gyms in the state.
“I say this out of concern, specifically to the state of Georgia because I have a lot of friends and I have a lot of family that live in Georgia: My recommendation is keep your behinds in the house,” he advised sternly. “It’s OK if you don’t get a haircut. Listen, I’m in the music business and my job is to look a certain way. And if I can rock the black Paul Bunyon looking like this and be on camera in front of hundreds, sometimes thousands of people, then you can too.”
After showing off his growing salt-and-pepper beard, the 47-year-old R&B singer continued addressing his loved ones in front of 11,000-plus fans watching online. “What this thing has done is it really allows us all to really look at each other in the mirror and it exposes how human we are and how empathetic we are to others who live on this earth too,” he said. “To all those people who are just dying to go out and climb a tree or get a haircut or get a tattoo, please consider other people. And consider the fact that there are other people on this earth living that are affected by your actions. See, this is the moment, ladies and gentlemen, where you have to understand that what we do actually affects or could potentially affect people that you don’t know.”
Watch Stockman’s whole Billboard Live At-Home performance below, and donate to Downtown Women’s Center and Micah’s Voice by clicking on the links.
