My Review Of Phyllis Hyman

Phyllis Hyman was born in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania and was the eldest of seven children. She went to music school and after graduation performed on tour with a group called New Direction.Hyman lived in New York for a period of time to work on her reputation by working there in several clubs. She was seen by Norman Connors and he offered her the opportunity to sing on his album," You Are My Star Ship", this album scored on the R&B charts.In 1977 her first solo album was with Buddah Records label and they were bought out by Arista Records. This event transfered Phyllis's artist contract to Arista Records. Her first R&B top twenty album, "You Know How To Love Me "performed well on the club-dance charts. She did a college lecture tour  and toured often. With several well known R&B groups such as The Four Tops  and The Whispers, she performed guest vocals in 1982. Hyman lend her voice to other artists and musicians like Grover Washington Jr. and other jazz
entertainers of that era.


Phyllis Hyman was one of the best all around R&B recording artist, song writer, of her time. She was also a very gifted and talented actress as well and starred as Shug Avery in, "The Color Purple"  and did several other acting engagements. I feel as though she was a very spiritual being who only wanted to spread true genuine and sincere love to all mankind. Her mother had a mental illness, which also affected Phyllis. She was diagnosed with bi- polar and medically this means someone who suffers from the disease of manic- depression. She refused to use pharmacy medication and decided to self medicate. This made her disease get worse as she became older and she was not able to recover from it. Phyllis yearned to be genuinely and sincerely loved. She wanted back only what she gave and never received it, so this put her into a deep depression, that she never recovered from. Phyllis felt as though not only in her personal life did she experience this
rejection, but also in her career as well.


While Phyllis was with her label Arista she felt as though other artists on the same label as her were given more attention and were supported more than she was. The break up between her husband/ manager Larry Alexander and problems she had with Arista Records caused her much depression and she began using cocaine, which led to a life- long dependency. Hyman loved deeply and could almost feel the feelings of others pain. Because she was so sensitive that she experienced telepathy and pre-cognition  and was connected to the paranormal environment. These emotions and situations made it difficult for her to be understood by others. She would see things happen and manifest before others and no one  would believe her.Phyllis Hyman had one of the most unique,sultry and angelic voices of her time. Promoting love, peace and joy I believe was her ultimate goal in life. Her legacy will live on in our minds and hearts and  lets keep her memory alive. 



As an International Recording and Performing artist myself, Sonya E. Henderson(fka) formerly known as Mae B, I am touched and sincerely moved by Phyllis's story. Many listeners have compared some of my work to the style of Phyllis Hyman, and to me this is indeed an honor and a privilege,so please take the time to go and check out my youtube site, which is Youtube.com/sonyaehenderson and my website SonyaEHenderson.com and watch the video Candy, and listen to my album, "Dimensions Of Love Volume 1",and make your own opinion. I would appreciate your feed back, which you may leave on my website. Thank you for taking the time to read my review on Phyllis Hyman. I wish you all much love, peace, good health and happiness. Take care and God Bless you all.