Welcome to the Musical Odyssey of John 'JohnE' Edwards
John “JohnE” Edwards was born September 6th, 1985 on the south side of Chicago to John D. McKinnis and JoAnne Edwards.
The gift of music was ever-present on both sides of his family. His father was a well sought out keyboardist and organist for multiple churches and his mother was a church soloist and choir member and even a 2nd cousin to the legendary Staples Singers. John learned to sing from his mother and developed a foundation and love of music early on in church.
Around the age of 6, John witnessed his parents split up, which had a profound effect on him. He lived with his mother and two younger siblings, Jeremy and Jacqueline, in and out of shelters for a few years.
During this time John saw first hand how GOD works and prayer changes things, which he credits to his mother and paternal grandmother, Naomi D McKinnis, for teaching him and building his faith. Throughout this time, John continued singing for fun and at church when he would go visit his grandmother on his father’s side every weekend.
Eventually, John and his family would move out west to Elgin, IL, a little under an hour away from Chicago. In that suburb, John began teaching himself how to play piano. At 8, John told his mother he wanted to learn how to play piano like his father and uncle did in church. She agreed, buying him a tiny keyboard, and encouraged him that he had the ability to teach himself given both his father and his uncle, her brother, Antonio Kneeland, taught themselves. What initially had been a small spark of curiosity quickly grew into a highly-fueled passionate love affair with music.
As he got better the keyboards got bigger and his family also grew with the birth of his two youngest siblings, Joy and Jada.
Higher Learning
In fifth grade, outside the confines of church, John sings for the first time publicly in his school chorus program and receives a huge and welcoming reception. It lights another spark in him as he goes on to pursue all things music. John joined Elgin’s Children Choir which expanded and strengthened his skills and knowledge as a singer and musician. He went on to perform for the first time at Carnegie Hall in NYC with the choir at age 12. At the time John joined the inaugural student arts program SCORE (Students Creating Opera to Reinforce Education) founded by Dr. Risè Jones called. John, with his brother, Jeremy, wrote and starred in their own opera.
John was accepted into Larkin’s Visual and Performing Arts Academy and expands his musical repertoire which now included Opera, Classical, Jazz, R&B and Gospel. He attended up until junior year of high school where he moves to Atlanta, GA.
During high school years, he developed a love for theatre alongside his love for music. Discovering a world where they exist together was the next spark of curiosity that eventually led him to New York City where he attended American Musical and Dramatic Arts Academy. There he expanded his abilities as an actor and dancer.
Career
After graduating in fall of 2006, John cut his teeth in theatre with regional shows around the northeast coast and midwest.
He landed his first national/international tour with Hairspray as Seaweed J. Stubbs. Later, he joined the national tour of Jersey Boys. John went on to make his Broadway debut in Jersey Boys taking over Tituss Burgess’ role for nearly a decade.
During his work on Jersey Boys, John developed friendships with Jarrod Spector, Dominic Scaglione, Dominic Nolfi, Russell Fisher, Charl Brown Sonny Paladino and Dwayne Cooper where they created the singing group, The Doo Wop Project.
John would go on to star in the 2018 New York City revival of Smokey Joes Café, for which he received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a musical, and won the Chita Rivera Award for best ensemble.
As of February 2021 John is currently starring in the Tony Award winning musical MJ: The Musical as Jackie Jackson of the legendary Jackson 5.
Along with regular performance theatre, John continues to collaborate and to write, play, and sing music.