CHARLIE “CJ” MELTON is a 2020 graduate of Manatee High School. He first appeared on WBTT’s stage in Sheldon Rhoden’s 2014 Young Artist Program. He has also appeared in Once on This Island, Dreamgirls, Black Nativity, Joyful! Joyful!, and Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. Earlier this year, CJ created and starred in his own WBTT Young Artist Program, I Sing Because I’m Happy, I Sing Because I’m Free.
Charlie was the 2013 winner of the Singers & Musicians Arts Conference (SMAC) in Tampa, sponsored by the recording artist Dorinda Clark Cole. Publicly ministering in song since the age of 10, Charlie has traveled throughout Florida singing with various church and nonsectarian groups. He has also won many first-place awards from the 2015 Tampa Bay Gospel Awards and the Greatness Beyond Measure Idol Talent Showcase. He released his first single, “All to You,” in 2018, and one day hopes to accomplish his dreams of continuing his acting career and becoming a national gospel music recording artist.