he became a sought-after studio background singer and has performed on projects for natalie cole, coolio, celine dion, michael jackson, willy deville, quincy jones, montell jordan, kenny loggins, diana ross, barbra streisand, whitney houston, and stevie wonder. in 1998, he did background vocals on rod stewart's "when we were the new boys", and played bass in his performances. he also sings in commercials, including spots for american express, dr pepper, the gap, mastercard, mcdonald's and sprite.