Throughout his career, Sylvester stood out as a disco and queer icon who never concealed his gay identity. His singing featured an exceptionally rich and versatile high tenor that no other vocalist has matched before or after. In the early 1970s he began cutting records with the rock-focused Hot Band, issuing a pair of albums, then resurfaced toward the end of the decade as a solo performer specializing in R&B and disco. While on the Fantasy roster, his tracks frequently climbed Billboard’s club chart, achieving genuine crossover success with the exuberant Top 40 smashes “Dance (Disco Heat)” and “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” both of which propelled the 1978 album Step II to gold status. Even after Disco Demolition Night he kept charting new territory, most notably when he collaborated with producer Patrick Cowley on the 1982 Top Five club single “Do Ya Wanna Funk,” an early Hi-NRG landmark.
Born Sylvester James, Jr. in Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood, he received his first musical exposure from grandmother Julia Morgan, a touring jazz vocalist. As a child he performed with gospel ensembles and drew additional influence from Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday. After moving to San Francisco in the late 1960s he appeared in the musical production Women of the Blues and soon became a featured performer with the Cockettes, a multiracial drag troupe. Once he departed the Cockettes, Sylvester and his manager assembled the Hot Band, recording the rock-leaning albums Sylvester & the Hot Band and Bazaar for Blue Thumb in 1973. When the group disbanded, he continued to perform and shifted his focus toward disco.
Fantasy signed him in 1977, and that same year he scored a breakthrough with his reading of Ashford & Simpson’s “Over and Over,” the standout track from his self-titled solo debut produced by Harvey Fuqua, which reached number 18 on the disco chart. The 1978 follow-up Step II extended that momentum through “Dance (Disco Heat)” and “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” both of which topped the club listing and entered the pop Top 40, ultimately earning gold certification for the album. Although the 1979 release Stars yielded a third Top 40 entry with his interpretation of “I (Who Have Nothing),” the predominantly electronic “I Need Somebody to Love Tonight,” written by Patrick Cowley, exerted a more lasting effect on club music in the post-disco period. After two additional Fantasy studio efforts, 1980’s Sell My Soul and 1981’s Too Hot to Sleep, Sylvester moved to Cowley’s Megatone imprint and delivered four albums through 1986. These sets explored Hi-NRG and electro alongside soul-rock hybrids and sleek contemporary R&B, yet six of the extracted singles, among them the Hi-NRG staple “Do Ya Wanna Funk,” reached the club-chart Top Ten.
Sylvester’s life ended suddenly on December 16, 1988, after complications from AIDS. His recordings nonetheless continue to animate dancefloors around the world, and “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” has been reinterpreted by Jimmy Somerville, Sandra Bernhard, and Byron Stingily, whose 1998 version topped the U.S. dance chart. Archival material has kept appearing well into the 2020s, with Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981 and Private Recordings, August 1970 both arriving in 2023; Live at the Opera House, documenting a complete 1979 San Francisco concert, followed the next year.
