Terence Trent D'Arby thrust himself into the spotlight in the late ‘80s by claiming his album was the best since The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released 20 years earlier. His music career began in Germany in the early ‘80s when he joined a band named Touch. After relocating to London, D'Arby landed a solo record deal with CBS and released his debut single "If You Let Me Stay," which almost instantaneously became a top 10 hit in the U.K.

In 1987, he dropped his debut album, the highly-touted--albeit more by himself than anyone else-- Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent d'Arby. This was the record that he claimed to be the best in two decades. Borrowing from several great artists of the past, both in the studio and on stage, D'Arby had a genuine smash hit with Introducing the Hardline in the U.K. The album spent the better part of a year atop the British charts and crossed over to the states in 1988, initially due to the single "Wishing Well." Though it took a little longer for D'Arby to captivate American listeners, with time came success and the album sold over 2 million units stateside.

Drawing comparisons to a more down-to-earth version of Prince, D'Arby would experiment with new sounds on his 1989 follow-up effort, Neither Fish nor Flesh. Whether some listeners just didn't understand his vision, or the record was too ambitious, it failed to hit home the way D'Arby's debut did. He returned in 1993 with Terence Trent d'Arby's Symphony or Damn. The album presented many of the same ideas as his sophomore record, but in a more focused fashion. The record, though, was unable to reach the elite status of Introducing the Hardline. With 1995's TTD Vibrator and 2001's Wildcard!, D'Arby saw his material tumble down and eventually tumble off the charts.