Gill was born on May 22, 1966 in Washington, D.C., the son of Johnny Gill Sr., a Baptist minister, and his wife Annie Mae Gill, who had four boys. He started singing at the age of five singing along in church in a family gospel group called Little Johnny and "Wings of Faith" which included his brothers Bobby, Jeff, and Randy Gill (himself a solo recording artist and member of the group II D Extreme).[clarification needed] Gill attended Kimball Elementary, Sousa Junior High, and Duke Ellington School of the Arts. His career dictated that he complete his high-school education through the services of a tutor. Gill planned to attend college to pursue a degree in electrical engineering, but decided instead to focus on his singing career.\n', '

Gill\'s recording career began in 1982, at the age of 16, when his childhood friend Stacy Lattisaw convinced him to record a demo. This demo fell into the hands of the president of Atlantic Records, and his first self-titled debut album was released shortly thereafter on Atlantic subsidiary Cotillion Records. Gill then teamed up with Stacy for the duet album Perfect Combination. A second solo album on Cotillion Records, Chemistry, was released in 1985.\n', '

Gill began a new chapter in his career in 1987, when he was recruited by Michael Bivins to join New Edition. Bobby Brown had been voted out of the group and Gill was brought in to replace lead singer Ralph Tresvant, who was rumored at the time to be leaving to pursue a solo career. Gill became the only member of New Edition who was not from Boston. With Gill, the oldest member, as one of the lead singers (along with Tresvant, who ended up staying with New Edition and delaying the launch of his solo career) on the album Heart Break, the group developed a more mature, adult sound, hitting the charts with songs such as "Can You Stand The Rain", "N.E. Heartbreak", "If It Isn\'t Love", and the Gill-led "Boys To Men".\n', '

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