What Is Keith Sweat's Net Worth?
Keith Sweat is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, radio host, and author who has a net worth of $250 thousand. Sweat has released 13 studio albums, including "Make It Last Forever" (1987), "Keith Sweat" (1996), "Rebirth" (2002), and "Playing For Keeps" (2018).
Six of Keith's albums have been certified Platinum or higher, and he is known for hit singles such as "I Want Her," "Make You Sweat," "Twisted" (featuring Kut Klose and Pretty Russ), "Nobody" (featuring Athena Cage of Kut Klose), and "Come and Get with Me" (featuring Snoop Dogg).
Sweat has produced tracks by Men at Large, Dru Hill, The Isley Brothers, Immature, The O'Jays, Ol' Skool, and Chantay Savage. He has also guest-starred on "Martin" (1997) and "The Wayans Bros." (1997) and appeared in the films "New Jack City" (1991), "Pastor Brown" (2009), and "Love Magical" (2018). Keith began hosting the "The Sweat Hotel," a nationally syndicated radio show, in 2008, and he published the book "Make It Last Forever: The Dos and Don'ts" in 2013.
Early Life
Keith Sweat was born Keith Douglas Sweat on July 22, 1961, in Harlem, New York City. His mother, Juanita Thompson, was a hairdresser, and his father, Charles Sweat, worked in a factory. After Charles passed away in 1973, Juanita raised Keith and his four siblings as a single mother. Sweat worked at Macy's as a night stock boy while attending City College, and he spent his weekends playing with a band called Jamilah. He later took a job in the mail room at the brokerage firm Paine Webber, and within four years, he became a brokerage assistant at the New York Stock Exchange. Keith was also a supervisor at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Career
As the lead singer of Jamilah, Sweat performed in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. He left the band to pursue a solo career in 1984 and recorded a few songs with the independent label Stadium Records. In 1987, Keith signed with Vintertainment Records, and he released his debut album, "Make It Last Forever," in November of that year. The album went 3x Platinum and reached #15 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and the single "I Want Her" topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Sweat followed his successful debut with the 2x Platinum "I'll Give All My Love to You" (1990) and the Platinum "Keep It Comin'" (1991) and "Get Up on It" (1994), which all reached #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Around this time, he also discovered the bands Silk and Kut Klose.
(Photo by Larry French/Getty Images)
In 1996, Keith released his most successful album, "Keith Sweat," which was certified 4x Platinum and reached #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and #5 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. His sixth album, 1998's "Still in the Game," was certified Platinum, and album #7, 2000's "Didn't See Me Coming," went Gold. The six albums Sweat has released since "Didn't See Me Coming" did not reach Gold or Platinum status, but 2008's "Just Me" reached the top 10 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. "Ridin' Solo" (2010), "Til the Morning" (2011), and "Dress to Impress" (2016) all reached the top 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In 2018, Keith released the album "Playing For Keeps" and the singles "How Many Ways" (featuring K-Ci) and "Boomerang" (featuring Candace Price). He has also released the live albums "Keith Sweat Live" (2003) and "Sweat Hotel Live" (2007), and he collaborated with Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill on the albums "Levert.Sweat.Gill" (1997) and "LSG2" (2003). In July 2021, Sweat took part in a "Verzuz" battle with Bobby Brown and performed several of his hits.
Personal Life
In 1992, Sweat married Lisa Wu, who later became a cast member on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." Keith and Lisa welcomed sons Jordan (born 1995) and Justin (born 1998) before divorcing in 2002. Sweat also has three daughters, Keisha, Keia, and Amaya, and a son named Joshua.
Financial Issues
Unfortunately Keith ran into various financial issues later in his career. In 2012, Sweat was sued by PMI Mortgage for failing to make payments on a house in Detroit. According to the lawsuit, he allegedly defaulted on a $450,000 mortgage. The house was foreclosed and sold by the bank. Even after the sale, the bank was still owed more than $200,000. The mortgage company was eventually awarded $253,000 in damages and even went so far as to sue to garnish Sweat's wages and get a lien on his other assets.
Awards and Nominations
Sweat has earned four American Music Award nominations, winning Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist in 1997. He was also nominated in that category in 1991 and 1998, and he received a Favorite Soul/R&B Album nomination for "Make It Last Forever" in 1989. In 2013, Keith was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Soul Train Awards. He has earned eight other Soul Train Award nominations: Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Song of the Year for "I Want Her" (1989), Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Single – Male for "Make It Last Forever" (1989), Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Album of the Year – Male for "I'll Give All My Love to You" (1991), R&B/Soul Album of the Year – Male for "Get Up On It" (1995), Best R&B/Soul Single – Male for "Twisted" (1997), Best R&B/Soul Album – Male for "Keith Sweat" (1997), Best R&B/Soul Single – Group, Band or Duo for "My Body" (1998), and Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo for "Levert.Sweat.Gill" (1999).
