Sylvester

Sylvester James Jr September 6 1947 December 16 1988 known mononymously as Sylvester was an American singersongwriter Primarily active in the genres of disco rhythm and blues and soul he was known for his flamboyant and androgynous appearance falsetto singing voice and hit disco singles in the late 1970s and 1980s Born in Watts Los Angeles to a middleclass AfricanAmerican family Sylvester developed a love of singing through the gospel choir of his Pentecostal church Leaving the church after the congregation expressed disapproval of his homosexuality he found friendship among a group of black crossdressers and transgender women who called themselves the Disquotays Moving to San Francisco in 1970 at the age of 22 Sylvester embraced the counterculture and joined the avantgarde drag troupe the Cockettes producing solo segments of their shows which were heavily influenced by female blues and jazz singers like Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker During the Cockettes critically panned tour of New York City Sylvester left them to pursue his career elsewhere He came to front Sylvester and his Hot Band a rock act that released two commercially unsuccessful albums on Blue Thumb Records in 1973 before disbanding Focusing on a solo career Sylvester signed a recording contract with Harvey Fuqua of Fantasy Records and obtained three new backing singers in the form of Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes the Two Tons O Fun as well as Jeanie Tracy His first solo album Sylvester 1977 was a moderate success This was followed with the acclaimed disco album Step II 1978 which spawned the singles You Make Me Feel Mighty Real and Dance Disco Heat both of which were hits in the US and Europe Distancing himself from the disco genre he recorded four more albums including a live album with Fantasy Records After leaving this label he signed to Megatone Records the danceoriented company founded by friend and collaborator Patrick Cowley where he recorded four more albums including the Cowley penned hit HiNRG track Do Ya Wanna Funk An activist who campaigned against the spread of HIVAIDS Sylvester died from complications arising from the virus in 1988 leaving all future royalties from his work to San Franciscobased HIVAIDS charities During the late 1970s Sylvester gained the moniker of the Queen of Disco and during his life he attained particular recognition in San Francisco where he was awarded the key to the city In 2005 he was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame while his life has been recorded in a biography and made the subject of both a documentary and a musical Description above from the Wikipedia article Sylvester singer licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia