Singer

(b: July 6, 1941 in Philadelphia, PA, d: June 30, 1995 in New York, NY)

Phyllis Hyman began her career as a silky-voiced, jazz-influenced singer, and gradually moved into slick, heavily produced Urban Contemporary ballads and light dance numbers.  Norman Connors made her his featured vocalist in the mid-’70s, and she was highlighted on a cover of The Stylistics’ “Betcha By Golly Wow,” which appeared on Connors’ You Are My Starship LP.  Hyman also sang with Pharaoh Sanders and the Fatback Band while cutting two singles as a lead artist. Hyman got her lone Top 10 hit in 1981 with “Can’t We Fall In Love Again,” but her albums did consistently well through the ’80s. She also sang on fusion and light jazz dates by Joe Sample, Ronnie Foster, and Grover Washington, Jr., a more conventional jazz session for  McCoy Tyner, and a pop date with The Four Tops. Tragically, Hyman took her own life on June 30, 1995; Forever with You was issued posthumously. — Ron Wynn, All-Music Guide …Phyllis was diagnosed as being “bi-polar”, a medical term for someone who suffers from the disease of manic-depression. As she got older, her dis-ease became more and more difficult for her to manage.  She elected not to use pharmaceutical medication. She elected to self medicate. Her self medication distorted her disease more and more, until she felt helpless about ever being able to recover from it.~ PH WWW.Pages