Born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in Altadena, California, United States, Buck comes from a musical family; with his father David, a professor of music, his mother Linda, a concert pianist and his siblings Deborah, a violinist and his brother Kevin, a cellist. His mother is Jewish and his father has Dutch ancestry. In 1992, Jon B. was shopping demos around when he caught the attention of Tracey Edmonds, then-President and CEO of Yab-Yum Records.

Jon B., prior to his rise to fame, used to be a songwriter and wrote songs for After 7, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Color Me Badd, the Spice Girls and others. Jon B.’s popularity began in the mid-1990s, he released his debut studio album in 1995 entitled Bonafide; the album spawned the popular hit and Grammy-nominated single “Someone to Love”, which featured the Grammy Award-winning artist Babyface. The album was a commercial success as it went platinum, selling over 1 million copies.

He released his second studio album Cool Relax in 1997, the album spawned the top 10 single “They Don’t Know” and two other top 20 hits, one featuring Tupac Shakur. Cool Relax received generally positive reviews from music critics and it is his most successful album commercially, it has been certified as Double Platinum by the RIAA.