Daniel was born in Los Angeles. During his career he has taught, worked and ranked alongside musicians and dancers such as Shabba Doo, Geron Casper Candidate, Derek Cooley Jackson/Jaxson, Popin' Pete and The Electric Boogaloos. Daniel first performed "the backslide", a physically complicated dance technique, now known as the "moonwalk", on British television during a performance of Shalamar's "A Night to Remember" on Top of the Pops. The song was a hit in 1982, almost a year before Michael Jackson moonwalked on the television broadcast; he was a big fan of Soul Train - on which Jeffrey Daniel had been a back-up dancer. According to Jackson's sister La Toya, Jackson was a fan of Daniel's dancing and sought him out. He soon met, hired and learned from Daniel. Daniel gives great credit to a man that inspired him, the original dance 'Locker' Don Campbell, one of the earliest Soul Train dancers. He also gives thanks to Cleveland Moses Jr. his partner on Soul Train and to Tyrone Proctor who was the premier 'Waack' dancer who taught Jeffrey the style of dance known as 'Waacking'. It was on Soul Train whilst doing a routine dressed in black that Daniel and Geron 'Caszper' Candidate and Derek 'Cooley' Jackson/Jaxson first performed the moonwalk on U.S. television.
Shalamar
Daniel and his Soul Train dance partner Jody Watley, along with Howard Hewett, became the world-famous soul funk group Shalamar who performing live such songs as A Night To Remember, I Can Make You Feel Good, Friends, Make That Move, Sweeter As The Days Go By, There It Is and I Owe You One, together with Carolyn Griffey – the daughter of Solar Records founder Dick Griffey. Daniel had become something of a style icon with his ever-changing hair styles and unique dress sense. He was often seen on the London club scene with the likes of Bananarama, Wham and Culture Club. After seven years, millions of albums sales, and tours around the world, Shalamar performed at London's Wembley Arena and went their separate ways in 1984. Soon after, Daniel took on the role of 'Electra' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new West End musicalStarlight Express which involved wild costumes with complex choreography on roller skates. Also in 1984 Daniel appeared in the Paul McCartney movie Give My Regards to Broad Street displaying his signature robotic or marionette-like dancing style to the Wings hit, "Silly Love Songs". In 1985, Daniel hosted 620 Soul Train, a British version of Soul Train produced with the blessing of Don Cornelius.
Work with Michael Jackson
By 1987, Daniel was working with Michael Jackson who had always been a fan of Daniel's dance style since watching him on Soul Train in the 1970s. He was hired as co-choreographer on the "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal" videos with primary choreographer Brownstone, [3T">Brownstone (band)">Brownstone, [3T and Men of Vizion were signed. Michael Jackson flew Daniel back to live in the United States from Japan where Daniel had taken up residence since leaving the United Kingdom.
Recent years
Today, Daniel works and lives in Lagos, London and Osaka, Japan. He is a fluent speaker and writer of the Japanese language with a fair grasp of Cantonese. He continues to perform, choreograph, produce and compose with some of the biggest names in show business. He has worked with Babyface, LL Cool J, Paul McCartney, Sheena Easton, The Go-Go's and Vanessa Williams. He joined Nigerian Idol as a judge in 2010 for three seasons and has been performing live shows with a reformed Shalamar since 2002. The Shalamar lineup is Daniel, Howard Hewett and Carolyn Griffey. They continue performing as a group and were touring in 2017 across the U.K.
Personal life
Former Shalamar band-mate and dance partner Jody Watley stated in 2010 that she and Daniel had had a tumultuous relationship that included emotional and physical abuse. On June 13, 1980, Daniel married American R&B singer Stephanie Mills, but they divorced later in 1983.
