Biography
An accomplished songwriter and keyboardist celebrated above all for his rich, smooth tenor and startling howl, James Ingram divided most of his five-decade career between the demands of a first-rate session musician and the occasional spotlight of a solo artist. After logging years in gospel and funk ensembles while backing figures such as Ray Charles and Leon Haywood, he moved closer to wider recognition in 1980, when he first appeared on Billboard’s R&B chart both as composer of Carl Carlton’s “This Feeling’s Rated X-Tra” and as lead singer of Zingara’s “Love’s Calling.” These credits quickly led to a sustained partnership with Quincy Jones. On Jones’s 1981 album The Dude, Ingram sang lead on “Just Once” and “One Hundred Ways,” earning his first three Grammy nominations out of fourteen total and securing his debut win for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. He later issued five solo albums, the earliest being the Top Ten R&B success It’s Your Night (1983). Greater pop visibility arrived through duets with Patti Austin on “Baby, Come to Me,” Michael McDonald on the Grammy-winning “Yah Mo B There,” and Linda Ronstadt on “Somewhere Out There,” before he claimed his own Hot 100 number one with “I Don’t Have the Heart” (1990). Recording slowed in later decades, yet he continued to gather honors via soundtrack collaborations with Dolly Parton and Anita Baker. Prior to his death in 2019, Ingram co-wrote the musical Brothers of the Knight with Debbie Allen and issued his fifth album, Stand (In the Light) (2008).
A self-taught pianist from Akron, Ohio, Ingram sang in his church choir and co-wrote both sides of a 1973 single by the Christian All Stars of Akron. As a teenager he joined local group Revelation Funk, which opened for Ohio Players and cut several little-known singles before relocating to Los Angeles, where the band performed its own song in the 1975 film Dolemite. The ensemble soon returned to the Midwest, but Ingram remained on the West Coast, building a livelihood as session musician, musical director, and songwriter while working through the late 1970s with Ray Charles, Leon Haywood, Cuba Gooding, High Inergy, and others. In August 1980 he achieved his first charting composition credit when Carl Carlton’s “This Feeling’s Rated X-Tra,” co-written with Haywood, appeared on the R&B list.
Ingram first drew attention as lead vocalist on the sole album by Lamont Dozier’s group Zingara; the single “Love’s Calling” climbed to number 29 on Billboard’s R&B chart despite its release on the tiny Wheel label. Impressed by a demo of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil ballad “Just Once,” Quincy Jones contacted Ingram and began a long-term collaboration. Jones’s March 1981 release The Dude featured Ingram on the title track as well as the singles “Just Once” (number 17 pop, number 11 R&B) and “One Hundred Ways” (number 14 pop, number 10 R&B), both of which received Grammy nominations; the latter earned him the Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male award, and he was also nominated for Best New Artist.
Further work with Jones raised Ingram’s profile. He duetted with Patti Austin on “Baby, Come to Me” from her September 1981 album Every Home Should Have One; boosted by General Hospital, the track ultimately reached number nine R&B and number one pop. Ingram also contributed to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, co-writing and singing on “P.Y.T.,” whose single arrived in 1983. That same year he and Austin recorded “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” for the film Best Friends, which became an R&B Top Ten hit and closed his debut solo album It’s Your Night on Qwest. The Top Ten R&B LP, issued in July 1983, included “Party Animal” (number 21 R&B) and the Michael McDonald collaboration “Yah Mo B There” (number five pop, number 19 R&B). At the 1983 and 1984 Grammy ceremonies Ingram collected five nominations, winning Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Yah Mo B There.”
Despite growing visibility, Ingram maintained an active behind-the-scenes role, appearing on recordings by George Benson, Nancy Wilson, the Pointer Sisters, Jeffrey Osborne, Kenny Rogers (“What About Me?,” number 15 pop), Steve Winwood, and USA for Africa (“We Are the World”). His second solo album Never Felt So Good arrived in July 1986, reaching the Top 40 on the R&B chart. That year he also joined David Pack on “I Just Can’t Let Go” and partnered with Linda Ronstadt on “Somewhere Out There” from the An American Tail soundtrack; the latter peaked at number two pop, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and won Song of the Year for its writers.
Ingram closed the decade with the new jack swing–tinged It’s Real, which reached number 44 R&B and yielded the Top Ten R&B single “It’s Real” plus the Hot 100 number one “I Don’t Have the Heart,” the latter nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male. Although he had moved from Qwest to Warner Bros., he remained associated with Quincy Jones, singing on “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)” from Back on the Block; the track topped the R&B chart, entered the pop Top 40, and brought another Best R&B Performance nomination.
Throughout the 1990s Ingram released only the modestly promoted Always You, whose final charting solo single was “Someone Like You.” He concentrated instead on duets and soundtrack work, receiving two further Grammy nominations: “The Day I Fall in Love,” a duet with Dolly Parton from Beethoven’s 2nd, for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television (1994), and “When You Love Someone,” an Anita Baker duet from Forget Paris, for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (1995).
In the following decade Ingram collaborated with Debbie Allen on the musical Brothers of the Knight, recorded and issued independently in 2001. That year he also appeared on Masters at Work’s “Lean on Me,” with background vocals by Patti Austin and Jocelyn Brown. Seven years later he independently released the gospel-inflected Stand (In the Light), featuring guests Debbie Allen, Leon Ware, Hubert Laws, and Junie Morrison. Ingram performed sporadically into the 2010s and died of brain cancer on January 29, 2019.
A self-taught pianist from Akron, Ohio, Ingram sang in his church choir and co-wrote both sides of a 1973 single by the Christian All Stars of Akron. As a teenager he joined local group Revelation Funk, which opened for Ohio Players and cut several little-known singles before relocating to Los Angeles, where the band performed its own song in the 1975 film Dolemite. The ensemble soon returned to the Midwest, but Ingram remained on the West Coast, building a livelihood as session musician, musical director, and songwriter while working through the late 1970s with Ray Charles, Leon Haywood, Cuba Gooding, High Inergy, and others. In August 1980 he achieved his first charting composition credit when Carl Carlton’s “This Feeling’s Rated X-Tra,” co-written with Haywood, appeared on the R&B list.
Ingram first drew attention as lead vocalist on the sole album by Lamont Dozier’s group Zingara; the single “Love’s Calling” climbed to number 29 on Billboard’s R&B chart despite its release on the tiny Wheel label. Impressed by a demo of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil ballad “Just Once,” Quincy Jones contacted Ingram and began a long-term collaboration. Jones’s March 1981 release The Dude featured Ingram on the title track as well as the singles “Just Once” (number 17 pop, number 11 R&B) and “One Hundred Ways” (number 14 pop, number 10 R&B), both of which received Grammy nominations; the latter earned him the Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male award, and he was also nominated for Best New Artist.
Further work with Jones raised Ingram’s profile. He duetted with Patti Austin on “Baby, Come to Me” from her September 1981 album Every Home Should Have One; boosted by General Hospital, the track ultimately reached number nine R&B and number one pop. Ingram also contributed to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, co-writing and singing on “P.Y.T.,” whose single arrived in 1983. That same year he and Austin recorded “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” for the film Best Friends, which became an R&B Top Ten hit and closed his debut solo album It’s Your Night on Qwest. The Top Ten R&B LP, issued in July 1983, included “Party Animal” (number 21 R&B) and the Michael McDonald collaboration “Yah Mo B There” (number five pop, number 19 R&B). At the 1983 and 1984 Grammy ceremonies Ingram collected five nominations, winning Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Yah Mo B There.”
Despite growing visibility, Ingram maintained an active behind-the-scenes role, appearing on recordings by George Benson, Nancy Wilson, the Pointer Sisters, Jeffrey Osborne, Kenny Rogers (“What About Me?,” number 15 pop), Steve Winwood, and USA for Africa (“We Are the World”). His second solo album Never Felt So Good arrived in July 1986, reaching the Top 40 on the R&B chart. That year he also joined David Pack on “I Just Can’t Let Go” and partnered with Linda Ronstadt on “Somewhere Out There” from the An American Tail soundtrack; the latter peaked at number two pop, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and won Song of the Year for its writers.
Ingram closed the decade with the new jack swing–tinged It’s Real, which reached number 44 R&B and yielded the Top Ten R&B single “It’s Real” plus the Hot 100 number one “I Don’t Have the Heart,” the latter nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male. Although he had moved from Qwest to Warner Bros., he remained associated with Quincy Jones, singing on “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)” from Back on the Block; the track topped the R&B chart, entered the pop Top 40, and brought another Best R&B Performance nomination.
Throughout the 1990s Ingram released only the modestly promoted Always You, whose final charting solo single was “Someone Like You.” He concentrated instead on duets and soundtrack work, receiving two further Grammy nominations: “The Day I Fall in Love,” a duet with Dolly Parton from Beethoven’s 2nd, for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television (1994), and “When You Love Someone,” an Anita Baker duet from Forget Paris, for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (1995).
In the following decade Ingram collaborated with Debbie Allen on the musical Brothers of the Knight, recorded and issued independently in 2001. That year he also appeared on Masters at Work’s “Lean on Me,” with background vocals by Patti Austin and Jocelyn Brown. Seven years later he independently released the gospel-inflected Stand (In the Light), featuring guests Debbie Allen, Leon Ware, Hubert Laws, and Junie Morrison. Ingram performed sporadically into the 2010s and died of brain cancer on January 29, 2019.
Albums
Singles
