Campbell has very little acting experience. His television credits include one episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and a guest appearance on Moesha. He rose to prominence in the music world when he was just eleven, appearing on Quincy Jones' 1989 recording Back on the Block. Prince wrote the song “Round and Round” for Campbell shortly after that. The single went gold, with Campbell singing it in the Prince film Graffiti Bridge. His next single, “Just Ask Me To,” from the Boyz in the Hood soundtrack, was also a hit on the R&B charts. His debut album T.E.V.I.N. was released in 1991 and became a big hit, spawning the successful singles “Tell Me What You Want Me to Do” and “Alone with You.” His follow-up album I'm Ready went double platinum and featured the hits “Can We Talk,” “I'm Ready,” and “Always in My Heart.” I'm Ready proved to be his recording peak—his subsequent albums Back to the World and Tevin Campbell were less successful. Among his other credits is the benefit album A Very Special Christmas 2, which also featured a tune by Darlene Love, who will play his mother in Hairspray. In 2001 Qwest released The Best of Tevin Campbell.

In addition to Gregory and Love, Hairspray currently stars Shannon Durig, John Pinette, Stephen DeRosa, Andrew Rannells, Tracy Miller, Becky Gulsvig and Leah Hocking.