<Archive Obituaries> Phyllis Hyman (June 30th 1995)
Bill Schenley
Photo: http://www.discomuseum.com/PhyllisHyman.jpg
FROM: The New Pittsburgh Courier (July 5th 1995) ~
By Ed Davis
It won't be until the end of this week that authorities in
New York will have an answer on the cause of Phyllis
Hyman's death last week.
Hyman was found dead in the bedroom of her New
York West Side apartment.
Pills and a note were found in the apartment, leading
authorities to initially think her death was a probable
suicide.
Hyman, 45 grew up in Pittsburgh and was well known
throughout the area during the mid-1960s as she
appeared in numerous talent shows and was a member
of the Pittsburgh Public Schools All-City Choir.
She later performed around the country and in the
Caribbean with a group called New Direction, but she
hit international stardom when she was featured on
Norman Connors' album "You Are My Starship" in 1976.
Also on the album was a song that was to become her
theme song, "Betcha By Golly Wow".
From that point she ascended to become one of the top
female vocalists in pop and R&B, though her style was
jazz in nature. Her first solo album self-titled, had three
big hits. On her second album "Somewhere In My
Lifetime" she collaborated with jazz legend Herbie
Hancock who was on the cut "Gonna Make Changes"
and Barry Manilow who arranged much of the album.
But perhaps her most popular album was "You Know
How To Love Me" with the title track becoming a big
hit.
Her career brought her into the company of a broad range
of entertainers: not only Connors, Honcock and Manilow,
but also Pharoah Sanders with whom she recorded as a
feature vocalist on Sanders' "Love Will Find A Way",
Chuck Mangione, Teddy Pendergrass, Peabo Bryson and
J.Mtume who produced some of her top hits.
Her career included film and movie scores, a television
special and a Tony Award nomination for her starring role
in the Broadway musical "Sophisticated Ladies".
A statuesque beauty standing over 6' tall, Hyman became
a commodity in the world of beauty products.
Revlon named her Ambassador of their "Polished
Ambers" product line, Clairol tabbed her for their "Born
Beautiful" products and Fashion Fair Cosmetics engaged
her in a national promotion for their complete line of
products.
Fashions aside, she was also sought after in the
billion-dollar industry of jingle singers and voice-overs.
She has been behind Burger King, Sasson Jeans, Diet
Pepsi, Welch's Grape Drink, Tuborg Beer and
McDonald's commercials.
In the realm of social awareness and civic consciousness,
Hyman spoke out on women-related causes, particularly
battering and rape.
She was among the pioneers to term rape as a crime of
violence and not a sex crime. "I can't stand to see these
injustices done to people who have nothing and no one
to protect them", Hyman said in one interview.
"I think it is important to realize that women, at least
some of them, have to be totally reeducated. They have
to understand their worth. Some women think getting
beaten is just a part of married life", she added.
At Courier press time, there was no available information
regarding funeral or memorial service arrangements locally,
in New York or her birthplace of Philadelphia.
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FROM: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 4th 1995) ~
By Carmen J. Lee, Staff Writer
Shortly after saxophonist Nathan Davis arrived in Pittsburgh
in 1969 to head the University of Pittsburgh's jazz studies
program, drummer Max Roach took him to a talent show at St.
Benedict the Moor Church in the Hill District.
''He said, 'I got a surprise for you,' '' Davis recalled.
The surprise was a 6-foot, 19-year-old singer with a voice
as impressive as her ambition. Her name was Phyllis Hyman.
''She obviously stood above anyone else on the program,''
Davis said. ''She was looking to get started in the business
and she was really nice and humble. As an artist, she was
absolutely fantastic.''
Ms. Hyman, who starred in the Broadway musical
''Sophisticated Ladies'' and whose most recent hit was
''When You Get Right Down to It,'' apparently committed
suicide Friday in her New York City apartment. She was 45
and would have celebrated her next birthday Thursday.
Her assistant found her unconscious in the bedroom about 2
p.m. She died at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center just
hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo
Theater in Harlem.
Although New York authorities declined to discuss the case,
The New York Times reported that police found pills and a
note at the scene.
Ms. Hyman's manager and attorney, Glenda Gracia, said the
note read simply, ''I'm tired. I'm tired. Those of you that
I love know who you are. May God bless you.''
Gracia had no firm explanation for why Ms. Hyman might have
wanted to kill herself. She suggested that Ms. Hyman, whom
she described as very sensitive and empathetic, might have
been so overwhelmed by the pain and suffering she saw in the
world that she no longer wanted to live in it.
''It was sorrowful for her that war, AIDS, homelessness and
racism ran unchecked throughout the world,'' Gracia said.
''She absolutely and totally gave of herself to the causes
that were significant to her. It was easy to find her in a
soup line feeding people in a shelter or donating her
services (to raise money) to combat AIDS or the abuse of
women and children.''
Ms. Hyman had just completed work on the last song on her
new, untitled album, which is still scheduled for release in
the fall.
The album will display not only her vocal styles, which
range from jazz to rhythm and blues, but her songwriting
talents, Gracia said.
''It's going to create a philosophical statement about how
she felt about many things in this life,'' she said.
Born in Philadelphia but raised in Pittsburgh, Phyllis Hyman
was the classic hometown girl who made her dreams come true.
Richard Allen of Plum remembers meeting Ms. Hyman, who at
the time lived in St. Clair Village, when they both attended
what was then Knoxville Junior High School.
''She was very focused and she had the voice. Even then, all
she did was sing,'' said Allen, a commercial and economic
development representative for Peoples Natural Gas Co. and
owner of a sign manufacturing company.
While attending Carrick High School, Ms. Hyman sang backup
for a record titled ''Sad Girl'' that was recorded in a
small Beltzhoover studio and which aired for a while on
radio, Allen said.
She also regularly sang with groups, at parties and in
talent shows.
Although she seemed to mature faster than her classmates,
Phyllis Hyman remained approachable. She also managed to
avoid the awkwardness that comes from standing head and
shoulders above the other girls in her class and eye to eye
with many of the boys.
''She carried her height in a way that no one teased her
about it,'' Allen said. ''When she walked into a room, heads
would turn. She was attractive, but she also had a presence
about her, even at that young age. She was always a cut
above.''
Ms. Hyman had enough self-confidence to approach local jazz
pianist Walt Harper in the early 1970s and ask to sit in
with his group, All That Jazz.
''She said she was a very good singer, and I gave her the
chance to sing that night,'' Harper said. ''She was good. I
told her, anytime we're anywhere in the vicinity and she
wanted to sing with us, please be my guest.''
Harper's group was among several Ms. Hyman sang with from
time to time as she made the Pittsburgh circuit. She
performed in local clubs at night while working as a
secretary at Pitt and for Neighborhood Legal Services during
the day.
She later traveled with a number of Top 40 groups. In 1975,
she moved to New York, where she began her recording career
in earnest, releasing her debut album in 1977.
She also performed on soundtracks for the movies ''The Fish
That Saved Pittsburgh,'' ''Children of Sanchez'' and ''Too
Sacred to Scream.''
By the time she starred on Broadway in the Duke Ellington
tribute ''Sophisticated Ladies,'' she had gained national
attention.
Ms. Hyman is survived by her father, Philip of Pittsburgh;
four sisters, Ann and Jean Hyman and Anita Patterson, all of
Pittsburgh, and Sakeena ''Kym'' Ali of Wilmington, Del.; and
two brothers, Mark ''Rasheed'' of Pittsburgh and Michael of
Gaithersburg, Md.
Private funeral arrangements in Pittsburgh are pending. A
farewell toast and celebration of life program will be
conducted Thursday at the Birdland club in New York City.
Another tribute is planned for the fall in New York.
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