I Swear: Member of ’90s R&B band All-4-One shares story about Labrador roots

Delious Kennedy spent 3 years in Labrador before joining Grammy-winning band

From left, Delious Kennedy, Tony Borowiak, Alfred Nevarez and Jamie Jones of the R&B group All-4-One performed at the I Love the 90s show at Mile One Thursday night. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Delious Kennedy swears “by the moon and the stars in the sky” that his Grammy-winning career started in Labrador.

Known to millions around the world as a member of Grammy award-winning group All-4-One, the singer surprised the crowd at Mile One Centre in St. John’s on Thursday when he said he was from Goose Bay.

Kennedy was a so-called military brat and spent three years in Goose Bay while his father was stationed there in the ’80s.

“I’ve lived all around the world. We moved every two or three years since I was born,” he explained. “But Goose Bay, Labrador, was probably my most favourite place I’ve ever lived.”

Kennedy was back in the province for a ’90s nostalgia concert featuring the likes of Salt-N-Pepa, Biz Markie and All-4-One.

Moving to Labrador was a culture shock for the young American, after leaving his father’s previous station in South Carolina. He said he’d never been around so much snow and cold weather in his life — or so much space.

“I think it’s a great place for a child to grow up, and be free,” he said. “There was no worries.”

Was I really on the ocean with a drill into the ice, catching smelts?– Tim “Delirious” Kennedy

Kennedy, then known by his birth name Tim, lived in Happy Valley-Goose Bay from 1980 to 1983. He arrived as a fourth-grader and left before the start of junior high.

“Everybody lived in the same neighbourhood,” he said. “I just had fun Ski-Dooing [and] ice fishing, which is, you know, things I would never do now.

“Like, what? Was I really on the ocean with a drill into the ice, catching smelts?” he said, laughing.

Tim (Delious) Kennedy spent three years in Labrador while his father was stationed there with the U.S. military, before growing up to join Grammy-winning band All-4-One. (Alyson Samson/CBC)

His All-4-One band members hardly believe his Labrador past. They say he’s too “bougie,” meaning bourgeois, to get his hands dirty out on the land.

Labrador also holds a special place for his love of music.

“I’ve always wanted to sing,” he said. “The first place my parents heard me sing was at church in Labrador.”

After his days of singing in a church in Labrador, his father was stationed in California. That’s where he joined All-4-One and where his singing career took off.

I wish I had a day off on this tour because I sure enough would have gone back.– Tim “Delirious” Kennedy

All-4-One formed in 1993 and won a Grammy in 1995 for their hit single “I Swear.” Their debut album went quadruple platinum in the United States, where it sold more than 4 million copies.

Kennedy hasn’t been back to Happy Valley-Goose Bay since he left in the 1980s.

“I left freezing Labrador and I went to sunny California and I’ve never looked back on the cold since.”

That doesn’t mean he never wanted to return, however.

“I’ve been telling my parents for years that’s one place I want to go back to. I wish I had a day off on this tour because I sure enough would have gone back.”

Kennedy was excited to return to this province and encouraged the band to continue on this leg of the tour so he could come back.

“It’s funny because whenever I talk to other Canadians in different provinces, I’m like, ‘You know, I consider myself partially Canadian because I grew up in Labrador,'” Kennedy said.