By Entertainment Correspondent, John Frazier

I can remember the first time I saw Eric Benet. Yes, saw him. I had no idea of his singing style, but I saw the cover of his CD and thought, "Oh my God!" I thought he was the most beautiful man ever. It was the "True To Myself", CD.



 

 
 
I mentioned it to a friend of mine in Brooklyn, NY, named Kenneth, who's into music like I am. (He and I love to share our Cissy Houston stories, but that's another story for another time.) Kenny said that he couldn't see it, but it wasn't long before he saw the light.

I brought this CD just for the cover but was happily surprised that this brother, Eric, was more than a pretty face. He could sing!

Later it was discovered that he was a single father, the mother of his daughter had died. Just finding that out, made him even more special, sensitive and beautiful. As his career was starting to pick up, all of a sudden, I would turn the radio on and hear his music, or turn the television on and there he was singing his neo-soul, old school style music. As he continued to record and release music and the once short "twist" turned into long "dreads", it appeared that finally the world was discovering Mr. Eric Benet.

 
 
 
To put icing on the cake, Ms. Halle Berry was now his lady. Damn! I told myself, "It doesn't get anymore better than that." Halle was the "it" girl, after receiving huge success for her work in the "Dorothy Dandridge Story" along with her other works. Eric's career was going great as well. The two met, dated, fall in love and got married. Unfortuately and sadly this union didn't last and during the divorce Eric was branded "a sex addict." Many, before knowing the total truth, took Halle's side. Eric was the gentleman, he never spoke badly about Halle.

He was even quoted as saying that he was the sex addict that the media had reported. Many men were thinking, "How can you be a sex addict with having Halle as your woman?" Many women were saying, "What's wrong with Halle? If a man like Eric wants to sleep with other women?" While others sided with both or one or the other, or didn't really care, there were no winners at the end of this relationship. You could see the hurt and pain in both, Eric's and Halle's eyes. But time is a healer.

 
 
 
Ms. Halle has moved on, is in a happy relationship and has had a baby. No one knows if she's still in India's life. (Eric's daughter, that Halle had grown a close relationship with.) And now it appears that Eric has reappeared as a new person, a new man and a man who has loved, lost, learned and is living his life his way.

His new CD, " Love & Life" is moving up the charts. It appears that the public has forgiven him. His daughter, India, is singing with him, as a background vocalist. The first single, "You've The Only One", is rising up the R&B charts as it has the Eric seasoning of R&B with a whole lot of soul. To me, he looks older, but in a new, mature way. When he was briefly interviewed on one of the morning shows, he smiled but there was a seriousness about him. Perhaps its always been there or maybe once you have been bitten, you are twice shy. I would imagine that he will be guarded with his personal life or just guarded on every level of his life, it couldn't have been easy during the end of the Halle Berry years.

 
 
 
Eric has been quoted per Black Voices as saying, "Going to that therapy, for me, was an attempt to save my marriage. If you've been unfaithful in a relationship, or your marriage, you're considered a sex addict now. I never really agreed with that philosophy."

The past is the past. Welcome back Mr. Benet. Readers, "Love & Life" is a must to add to your music collection.

Check out his website to give his latest a listen: http://www.ericbenet.net/

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