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AMAZING GRACE at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church

Source: Rachel Murray / Getty

 

Gospel male artist instantly brings a rumble.  Donnie McClurkin even took Tonex to task about his sexuality. You can read that article here in Donnie McClurkin Controversy Spreads. No one would have ever dreamed that his career would take so many twists and turns.

Anthony Charles Williams II was better known by his stage name TONEX is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, dancer, producer, and preacher. He goes by various names and aliases, but his primary stage name of choice has been “Tonex” over the years. In 2008, he underwent a name change by adopting a new stylization of his stage name, “TON3X™”.

Hehas released several hundred songs on 24 albums over a span of 14 years, while producing several others for both gospel and secular artists. He has won six Stellar Awards, a GMA Award, and received 2 Grammy nominations: one for Best Soul Gospel Album for his 2004 gold album, Out The Box and another in 2009 for Best Urban/Soul Alternative Performance for his single, Blend, from his 2009 mainstream (albeit theoretically Gospel) album, Unspoken.

Born in 1975, Tonex grew up in the San Diego, California area. His father, the late Dr. Anthony Williams, was Senior Pastor and District Elder in the Truth Apostolic Community Church in suburban Spring Valley, and his mother, the late Dr. E.B. Williams, was also a minister. Tonex’s real name is Anthony Charles Williams II and he was the youngest of the Williams’ six boys. Gospel music was the preferred choice at home, but other sounds made their way into Tonex’s environment. His father played saxophone for James Brown and Jackie Wilson, his mother sang in various girl groups, and his older brothers sneaked funk and R&B recordings into the house.

Tonex once considered the cutting edge performer in the gospel was actually in the midst of a personal crisis behind the scenes. He was dealing with the dissolution of his marriage and an identity crisis that caused an earthquake of morality questions. His previous label Zomba Recording/Verity Records for over $1 million after Tonex complained to the world that he is being mistreated and, thus, desires to break ties with the record company. Tonex faced much scrutiny within the conservative Gospel arena for the explicit language and the angry tone of the song and the ensuing blogs and videos that followed. The scrutiny led him to adopt a new alias, “Black Maverick”, around this time, and he also closed down his myspace page for several months before resurfacing on the website in January 2008.

On June 9, 2010, TON3X™ released what would be his final mixtape, the iTunes™ only release “The Parking Lot”. The mixtape was also distributed in NYC that night after what would be his final performance. On June 15, 2010, the brand TON3X™the  Christian artist retired. In mid-2010, Tonex came out publicly as a gay Christian.

In December 2011 he re-emerged as B-Slade. Here is his showcase as Joe’s Pub in New York.

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