Today In Black LGBTQ+ History: Sylvester James

TODAY IN BLACK LGBTQ+ HISTORY, we celebrate Sylvester James, and American singer and songwriter who was born in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California to Sylvester James and Letha Weaver on September 6, 1947. He grew up with his mother and stepfather Robert Hurd, as well as five siblings. After moving to San Francisco in 1967, he joined the Cockettes, a theater troupe, singing jazz and blues standards of the 1920s and 1930s; in November 1971, the Cockettes performed at the Anderson Theater in New York City’s East Village.Sylvester made his debut album on the Blue Thumb label with Lights Out (1971), followed in 1973 by Sylvester and Bazaar. In 1976, Sylvester hired the singers Martha Wash and Izora Armstead-Rhodes. Record producer Harvey Fuqua discovered the group and signed them with Fantasy Records which produced the album Sylvester in 1977. Over the course of his career, James sang a variety of genres, including ballads, jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, rock, torch songs, soul, and disco.He toured South America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America.The album Step II in 1978 included the Gold-record hits “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and “Dance (Disco Heat)” and received three Billboard Disco Forum Awards. His last public appearance was leading the People Living with AIDS/ARC group at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 26, 1988. The 1988 Castro Street Fair in San Francisco was themed as a tribute to his work.Sylvester James died on December 16, 1988 in San Francisco. He was 41 at the time of his death.