Holy crap! We’ve got some mind blowing news to pass along. And it’s not good.
James Ingram, the Grammy winning singer/songwriter is dead after losing his battle with brain cancer. He was 66.
Sources say Ingram had been dealing with the condition for quite sometime. The death was disclosed via a social media post from his good friend, Debbie Allen, who posted …
“I have lost my dearest friend.
James won a Grammy for his duet with Michael McDonald for “Yah Mo B There” He also won one for “100 Ways.” Additionally, he was nominated for 12 other Grammys.
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In the 80s, Ingram also recorded several chart-toppers including his #1 duet with Patti Austin, “Baby Come to Me” … as well as “Somewhere Out There” with Linda Ronstadtand.
Ingram and Quincy Jones worked closely together worked closely together over the years … recording and writing hits. He co-wrote Michael Jackson‘s smash hit, “P.Y.T.”
TMZ notes that during during a recent Quincy tribute concert in L.A. this past September, James was noticeably absent when Patti performed their hit song (“Baby Comke to Me”). She soldiered on without him, doing her best impression of her dear friend while singing his parts.
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Here’s more on James via SoulTracks:
Ohio native Ingram first received attention in the late 70s as part of the band Revelation Funk and served as pianist for the legendary Ray Charles. But it was a 1980 demo tape on which he sang that became his unexpected career boost. He cut the demo of “Just Once,” a Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil composition that was being delivered to Quincy Jones for possible inclusion on Jones’s landmark The Dude album.
Jones not only liked the song, he liked the singer on the tape and invited Ingram to provide the vocals to both “Just Once” and “One Hundred Ways” on The Dude.  Of course, The Dude became an international smash and both Ingram cuts rocketed up the pop, soul and adult contemporary charts, ultimately landing Ingram a performance at that year’s Grammy Awards as well as the trophy for best R&B vocal performance.
Ingram’s debut album, It’s Your Night, was released to great anticipation, and it didn’t disappoint. Led off by the smash duet with Michael McDonald, “Yah Mo Be There,” Night was perhaps the best soul album of 1983 and was highlighted by the achingly beautiful ballad, “There’s No Easy Way.” Most of that album was also included on Ingram’s 1991 greatest hits disc, The Power of Great Music, a nearly essential collection of romantic 80s soul music.
Read/learn MORE at SoulTracks.
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