LEVERT, SEAN (28 September 1968 – 30 March 2008), was a famous African-American singer.
Born in Canton, OH., Sean was the younger brother of singer GERALD LEVERT and the son Eddie and Martha Levert. His father was a well-known vocalist and the family spanned two generations of musical achievement.
As young boys growing up in SHAKER HEIGHTS, the Levert brothers and their childhood friend, Marc Gordon created a singing triad eventually called LeVert. The mid 1980’s were formative years for the group to develop their own craft that was influenced by the Levert family’s deep roots in soul and rhythm and blues music.
Although Sean Levert lived a tragically short life, his career was notable. Around the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the LeVert group recorded singles that made it on to major United States music charts. Levert later started a solo career around 1995 by signing to Atlantic records and soon after he released his debut album, "The Other Side". The success of this album along with the previous records released with LeVert, gained him the popularity that was necessary for him to pursue acting in feature films. The 1991 production of the movie New Jack City, was the first, and most popular film that the Levert brothers were cast in. Another 2000 film titled Dope Case Pending would feature Sean, but was not as successful.
Sean, was only 39 when he died from a compilation of health issues including, high blood pressure, diabetes, sarcoidosis, and the use of multiple prescription medications.
Sean was jailed for child support debts which led to his eventual death after only six days in Cuyahoga County Jail. Although he had openly admitted his addiction to Xanax and surrendered his medications to the jail upon his intake, the jail administration forbade the weening of Sean and his medication habit. Instead, the jail forced Sean to detox without the supervision of medical professionals. Due to the high dosage of medications Sean was taking prior to his incarceration, the drastic and forced detox proved fatal. After six days, he was hallucinating and acting irregularly. This led to jail staff strapping him into a restraining chair where he eventually suffocated and died. A later wrongful death lawsuit would award the Levert estate four million dollars.
Sean Levert was married to Angela Lowe, they had six children together. Levert is buried at Cleveland Memorial Gardens.
Kevin Jones