Deleting everything on his Instagram page and leaving only one post, Raphael Saadiq made space to announce the official reunion of Tony! Toni! Tonè. Saadiq posted a photo of the original trio announcing the Just Me and You Tour 2023. Saadiq, his brother D’wayne Wiggins and their cousin Timothy Christian Riley were seated next to each other in the photo. The text reading Raphael Saadiq revisits Tony! Toni! Tonè makes it official. The only problem is there are no official dates!— yet, but the good news is they should be coming soon.
A Tony! Toni! Tonè reunion is long overdue; fans of the group have asked Saadiq to rejoin the group for years; however, both brothers, Raphael and D’wayne, insisted it would never happen. The group released four albums, Who? (1988), The Revival (1990), and Sons of Soul (1993). The Tony’s disbanded after their fourth album House of Music (1996). Tony! Toni! Tonè went gold on their debut album with the lead single “Little Walter.” They’re also known for other classic R&B songs like “If I Had No Loot,” “Whatever You Want,” “It Feels Good,” “It Never Rains (in Southern California),” “Anniversary” and the DJ Quik featured “Let’s Get Down.”
What happened after the breakup
When Tony! Toni! Tonè split in the mid to late 90s — rumors suggested D’wayne Wiggins was allegedly at the center of the groups’ problems. Wiggins was the group leader and took the blame for all their cash flow issues. In a 2019 interview with NME, Saddiq says that everyone had “money woes” and that the trio had an operational problem or an “appropriation of funds if you know what I mean?.” Saddiq also mentioned in the interview that he’s been writing new “Tony!” music for 15 years, and if they reunited, it wouldn’t be for an entire project, just one tour.
Wiggins and Riley continued touring as Tony! Toni! Tonè with a new lead singer, Amar Khalil, who shares a similar tone as Saadiq’s voice. Khalil was in the group from 1998 to 2018. He’s now the frontman of a new band called 3TOB.
Wiggins opened a recording studio under his Grass Roots Entertainment banner, where he signed and developed one of the best-selling groups of all time, Destiny’s Child. He’s also worked with Keyshia Cole, guiding her until she signed her deal with A&M records. Alicia Keys worked with Wiggins on her Top Ten Billboard charting song “Diary,” the title track album went platinum and won four 2005 Grammy Awards.
In 2000, Wiggins released his solo album Eyes Never Lie on Motown Records. On the album, he collaborated with Carlos Santana, Jamie Foxx, and Darius Rucker from Hootie and the Blowfish. For a brief stint, Wiggins became the leader of Weekends at the D.L.‘s house band, a talk show on Comedy Central with comedian D.L. Hughley as the host in 2005. The show ended after one season due to low ratings.
Lucy Pearl and Raphael Saadiq solo records
Raphael Saadiq started the short-lived supergroup Lucy Pearl with ex-En Vogue singer Dawn Robinson and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest. Lucy Pearl charted in the top 40 of Billboard’s Hot 100 and within the top five of the R&B charts with “Dance Tonight.” Their self-titled album, Lucy Pearl (2000), went gold. Their second single, “Don’t Mess With My Man,” did well outside the U.S.
Lucy Pearl broke up after attempting to replace Dawn Robinson with a new female vocalist, Joi. Unbeknownst to Robinson, Lucy Pearl would appear with Joi on BET’s 106 and Park as a new addition to the group — Dawn found out she was replaced by later watching the show from home. Lucy Pearl attempted to reunite back in 2009. The idea of the group coming back together ended when Muhammed filed a lawsuit against Saadiq and refused to release another Lucy Pearl album, which, according to Dawn, ended up causing her to lose her home.
Raphael dropped five solo studio albums, including the critically acclaimed The Way I See It (2008) and Stone Rollin’ (2011). Raphael Saadiq has written and produced for some of the industry’s top artists like Solangè, D’angelo, TLC, En Vogue, Erykah Badu, Joss Stone, Ledisi, Jill Scott, Whitney Houston, etc. He recently helped write and produce Beyoncè‘s “Cuff It” on her latest album Renaissance (2022).