Music Monday: Phyllis Hyman
Posted: 
December 7, 2009 at 10:43 am
New York Connection
Hyman moved to New York City to work on her reputation. She did background vocals on Jon Lucien’s Premonition and worked in clubs. It was during one of these performances that she was spotted by Norman Connors, who offered her a spot as a vocalist on his album, You Are My Starship (1976). The duo scored on the R&B charts with a remake of The Stylistics’ “Betcha by Golly Wow!”.
Hyman struggled with bipolar disorder, depression, alcoholism, weight gain and financial problems. She was also emotionally exhausted from lending her talents to AIDS benefits concerts and support groups. Adding to her depression, in 1993 her mother, grandmother and a close friend all died within the span of a month.
On the afternoon of June 30, 1995, Hyman committed suicide by overdosing on pentobarbital and secobarbital in her New York City apartment. She was found hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo Theatre.Her suicide note read in part:
“I’m tired. I’m tired. Those of you that I love know who you are. May God bless you.”
She was 45 years old. A memorial service was held at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan the following month on what would have been her 46th birthday
-Wikipedia
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Tags: Norman Conners, Phylss Hyman
I love her. I can relate to certain aspects of her life story, just as I'm sure many others can. She was a true talent that was unfortunately was taken from us too soon.