Singer James Ingram Is Dead at 66
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
The New York Times is reporting that James Ingram has died at 66. Ingram “whose voice — technically precise, crisp and reserved, yet full of audacious feeling — made him one of the defining singers of R&B in the 1980s…”
According to the NYTimes, “The actress and choreographer Debbie Allen, a frequent collaborator with Mr. Ingram on musical theater projects, announced his death on Twitter on Tuesday, calling him her ‘dearest friend and creative partner.’ She did not say where or when he died or specify the cause.”
In the early 1980’s Ingram exploded into mainstream American music.
“Just as R&B’s “quiet storm” phase was peaking, Mr. Ingram was plucked from side-gig obscurity by the producer Quincy Jones to appear on his 1981 album, 'The Dude.' Mr. Jones discovered Mr. Ingram on a demo of “Just Once,” written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, which he sang for $50. Mr. Jones loved not just the song but the singer as well, and he called Mr. Ingram — who initially hung up on him — and invited him to perform “Just Once” and another song, “One Hundred Ways,” on that album.”
Billboard magazine reports, "The singer collected two Grammys during his career: His song "One Hundred Ways" won best male R&B performance in 1981 and his duet with Michael McDonald on "Yah Mo B There" won best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals in 1984. He was also nominated for back-to-back best original song Oscars in 1993 and 1994, for co-writing "The Day I Fall in Love" from Beethoven's 2nd and "Look What Love Has Done" from Junior."