Luke James

Profile Overview

Luke James Boyd (born June 13, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He began his career in 2004 as one half of the R&B duo Luke and Q, who served as backing vocalists for R&B singer Tyrese. While doing so, they became acquainted with the singer's primary songwriting-production team, the Underdogs; the duo was led to sign with J Records. Their 2006 debut single, "My Turn" failed to chart, although Boyd continued to write songs—often under the wing of the Underdogs—for other prominent artists including Chris Brown, Britney Spears, and Justin Bieber during the duo's inactivity and subsequent disbandment in 2010.
Further intent on a solo recording career, he signed with record producer Danja's label N.A.R.S., in a joint venture with Island Records to release his eponymous debut studio album (2014). Preceded by the mixtapes #Luke (2011) and Whispers in the Dark (2012), the album spawned the single "I Want You," which was nominated for Best R&B Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. His 2017 single, "Drip" (remixed featuring ASAP Ferg) preceded his self-released second studio album, to feel love/d (2020), which marked his return to music following a two-year hiatus and was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
In his acting career, he starred as R&B singer Johnny Gill in BET's 2017 television biopic The New Edition Story. Since then, he has performed in Regina Hall and Will Packer film Little, in FOX's Star, HBO's Insecure, USA's Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., and BET's The Bobby Brown Story. He was also featured in the third season of The Chi on June 21, 2020. In 2024, Boyd starred as a lead male character in the Amazon Prime television series Them: The Scare, a sequel series to Them.