Mr. Michael Clemons (affectionately called Big Mike) was born May 28, 1975 in Stratford, CT, to the awesome woman of God, Pastor Rosa Clemons. The mantle of anointing on Pastor Clemons was passed down to Mike while he was yet in the womb as God spoke to her to let her know that this child will be special. This anointing manifested in Mikes life through a musical inclination.
Mike's fascination with rhythm and percussion began at an early age with simple pots and pans. Pastor Clemons recognized this awesome gift and hence purchased Mikes first drum set at the age of 3 years old. As a teenager up until young adulthood Mike freely devoted this gift back to the Lord by playing for the church. As he remained faithful to this duty God began to open doors for this talent that would soon go worldwide.
Big Mike got his first major break in 1994 (. right after graduating high school) when music producer, Stanley Brown heard him and offered him the opportunity to play for Aaron Hall, the lead singer for the R&B group, Guy.
He continued to play for other major artist such as Usher, SWV, Dru Hill, Mary J. Blige, Mario, and others. After performing for the Usher 8701 tour Mike took some much needed time off to try his hand at music production(Along with is brother Nathan Clemons). This too proved to be another area of anointing and success. They was afforded the opportunity to produce songs for Mary J. Blige, SWV, Aaron Hall, Tyrese, Ruff Ends, DJ Rogers, Mario, Out of Eden, and many others.
Although Mike Clemens started in the church and later performed for secular artists he never completely abandoned those spiritual roots. This was all a part of Gods divine plan for his life and he has been graced to come back around full circle.
Now, in line with Gods plan Big Mike ministers on the drums with Israel & New Breed and Youthful Praise. To further demonstrate how his steps were ordered by the Lord, Mike only got this opportunity through Johnny Natural Najera, the guitarist for Usher. Mr. Najera introduced him to Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey and their spirits connected as stated in a quote by Mr. Lindsey they had very good drummers in the past but I feel that Israel needed some edge so thats where Big Mike came in.
Currently, Big Mike Clemens resides in Virginia Beach, VA with his lovely wife, Cheryl Coko Clemons and two beautiful children, Jalen and Jazz. On the whole, the story of Michael Clemons is not just another ordinary bio but a true testimony of Gods grace and faithfulness to us, when we follow His plan.
Big Mike has worked With:
Usher, SWV, Coko, Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., P. Diddy, Faith Evans, Israel & New Breed, Mario, Horace Brown, Carl Thomas, Dru Hill, Aaron Hall, Youthful Praise, Tyrese, Ludacris, Joe, J Moss, Karen Clark, and many, many more. You can check out some of Big Mike's work on the new Israel & New Breed double cd called "Live in Cape Town", Usher dvd called "8701", Mary J Blige cd called "The Tour" and the new Youthful Praise cd called "The Praise, The Worship"