Gregory Porter’s remarkable voice isn’t the only thing that sets him apart. The singer-songwriter, who was unmasked as the Dressed Crab as he finished second on The Masked Singer, has twice been awarded the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.
However, it’s his distinctive black deerstalker cap, which covers his ears and chin, that often piques the curiosity of fans and interviewers.
The 53 year old renowned musician has previously explained why he always dons this accessory during performances. “I’ve had some surgery on my skin, so this has been my look for a little while and will continue to be for a while longer,” he confessed to Jazz Weekly in 2012.
In a 2016 interview with the Telegraph, he revealed that he acquired some facial scars when he was around ‘seven or eight’ years old, but did not provide further details. In 2020, he told the Metro: “It started off covering some scars from surgery, but it’s become my style.
“I was in Denver, and it was cold. I was wearing five layers of clothing, and I wore a hat,” reports Birmingham Live.
“It warmed up, and I thought: ‘Actually, this is comfortable; this is a look.’ I started to sing in a jazz club in Denver, and people were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the guy with the hat.’ So it became a thing.’
Gregory’s brother, Lloyd Cornelius Porter, tragically died in May 2020 from complications from COVID-19. He had been rushed to hospital but after weeks of treatment, his condition deteriorated sharply.Before they switched off the ventilator, Gregory Porter sang to his brother.Speaking about the heartbreaking moment,
Gregory previously told The Irish Times: “I sang to him. But at the opportunity that I sang to him, I said, ‘He’s gone.'” He continued, uncertain of his brother’s clinical state during the tragedy, “I don’t know if he’s clinically dead. In the middle of my song I was, like, ‘He’s not there.'” His brother’s final moments were marked by harsh reality, as he was intubated during New York’s early COVID-19 surge. “He was intubated. He was in that early [wave] that came through New York. They were super careful,” Gregory explained.
Due to the intense situation: “They were burning the bodies or freezing them. He disappeared. He went in, intubated that day – and he just disappeared.”
This loss echoed an earlier one Gregory faced at the young age of 21 when his mother passed away. She left him with poignant advice shortly before her death: “She said to me… two days before she passed, she said, ‘Gregory, music is the best thing you do. Don’t forget about your music. We talked about kids, buying a house…” He also recounted a tender memory of trying to provide comfort, saying, “I remember her oxygen machine being all the way up on 10 and she still wasn’t getting enough air.”
His attempt was met with gratitude, even though it made no difference: “She said, ‘Turn it up.’ And I twisted the knob, even though the knob didn’t move. She said, ‘Ah, that’s better.’ It was already up on maximum. She knew her time wasn’t long.”
When it comes to family life, Gregory Porter cherishes his home life in Bakersfield, California, with his wife Victoria and their two sons. In previous comments, he fondly spoke about his partner’s influence, acknowledging: “My wife is a painter, and so she does a little bit of painting with him [their son].”
Delving into the cultural aspects of their household, he added, “My wife is Russian as well, so both he and I take Russian lessons. It’s fun, working on my wife’s native language – and I guess it’s half of my son’s language as well, because he goes to Russia every summer.”