Did Phyllis Hyman Sabotage Her Career?

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Phyllis Hyman's big mistake was being a b-polar lesbian.

Phyllis Hyman's issue was not using a stage name but instead using a fret name that sounds like a STD abd a last name that makes one think about a vagina.

She had it all lined up, though - an endorsement deal with Clairol, hit records and a role in one of the hottest shows on Broadway, then she posed for that sleazy magazine Oui. Which was one step above Penthouse, if that. Then marrying her manager and the subsequent coke habit too. It's sad because she had it all, the looks and amazing singular voice. Too bad she lost it all.

I do not believe she would have crossed into pop music. She was talented but niche.

Clive Davis is a self serving ogre. He tossed Hyman and Angela Bofill to the side once he got hold of Whitney. Telling Whitney not to be seen with Robyn Crawford while he is sucking off hustlers left and right. Dropped Angela for not losing her pregnancy weight quick enough.

Phyllis was even mulling over a possible film career but that didn’t happen either. She was star-crossed from the beginning. And I agree that she was too niche. Her voice was spectacular but not for pop audiences. Sad how she left this world. Her, Whitney and Natalie Cole. Waste of lives and talent.

I know one of Hyman's exgirlfriends. Davis was a major homophobe and Phyllis wasn't willing to beard. Whitney was. Phyllis was also a junkie, which didn't make things any easier.

Davis is a hypocrite. Talk about white male privilege.

I had heard stories about Phyllis’s drug addiction when I was stationed in San Diego. She had done a show in Los Angeles and she and her entourage were high as kites. Off of what? Reefer maybe? Allegedly, they went to some popular LA eatery that served delicious wings. They ordered a large serving. A huge basket of fried chicken wings placed in the middle of their table. And when they were eating, Phyllis would throw the bones over her shoulder onto the floor.

r8, everything, but especially heroin.

I loved Phyllis. Have all her stuff, Went to see her in Philly a few times. She was jazzy, her songs weren’t pop radio froendly (her biggest lp Prime Of My Life was the poppy one). By the time whitney hit - all the 60’s & 70’s singers were pretty much played out - Patti LaBelle & Natalie Cole went a bit longer Add Mtv not playing her videos & she had emotionL issues. OP: thanks for posting this. People should try her out.

Oh, no r9. She shot up? Or did she snort it? Terrible.

r11, I don't actually know, but based on the level of addiction described, I'm going to assume she shot up, at least some of the time. In my own experience with heroin addicts, none of them stick to snorting or smoking it when they get in deep.

The Manilow produced single SOMEWHERE IN MY LIFETIME is sublime. One would assume that it would have been schmaltzy and trite. But it’s masterful.

[quote] I do not believe she would have crossed into pop music. She was talented but niche.

Phyllis could have had a career like Anita Baker if she'd been mentally and emotionally healthy. She was so beautiful and statuesque. Her commercial potential was never even close to being realized. Clive Davis did not appreciate Black music. His whole playbook was excising the Black from Black artists.

During the pandemic lockdown I listened to Phyllis more than any other single artist. Her sound is exquisite but the melancholy of her music is unrelenting. It is very comforting during dark periods, harder to listen to during happier times -- even her happy songs sound sad. She needed more upbeat, inspirational, exuberant material. I think because of her mental illness she was drawn to the sadness.

R10 I saw her, too. She did the Blue Note in NYC more than once. Her fans were into her, big time.

I despise Clive Davis. He spent most of Whitney’s career keeping her in the closet, and apparently Phyllis too. But he comes out and…nothing. He should apologize for what he did to both of them.

Funny thing......they're both dead.

Well have a vadge part as part of your name isn't helping anything.

Phyllis was fluid not lesbian. She'd been married for several years at the start of her career. She was mostly into men and only went with women later in her life. She had male and female sexual partners at the same time.