Born in Akron, Ohio, James Ingram sang in the church choir and taught himself to play the piano. A promising athlete, he was offered a track scholarship but opted to join the Akron band Revelation Funk, travelling with them to Los Angeles, and remained there after the rest of the band returned to Akron. While working as a solo performer in R&B clubs,he was recruited to play keyboard and sing backing vocals for Ray Charles. He topped the US singles chart in 1990 with I Don't Have the Heart, his first as a solo artist, and his duet with Linda Ronstadt on Somewhere Out There, from the animated film An American Tail reached #2 in the US and #8 in the UK.
James Ingram died of brain cancer,18 days short of his 67th birthday.
