From The Washington Post:
Jimmy Scott, a singer whose eerie, high-pitched voice had a haunting effect on listeners and who had a star-crossed career marked by hard luck, sorrow and decades of neglect before his late-stage revival, died June 12 at his home in Las Vegas. He was 88.
The death was confirmed by his biographer, David Ritz. The cause was not immediately disclosed.
Mr. Scott began singing in the 1940s and had one minor hit on the rhythm-and-blues charts during his career, with “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” in 1950. Even then – and typical of the misfortune that followed throughout his life — his name was not on the record: Credit was given to his bandleader at the time, Lionel Hampton.
Yet, even with limited exposure, Mr. Scott exerted a powerful influence over generations of singers who came after him, from Nancy Wilson and Dinah Washington to Frankie Valli, Marvin Gaye and Madonna, who once said, “Jimmy Scott is the only singer who makes me cry.” […]
Entertainers as diverse as Billie Holiday, Liza Minnelli and David Byrne have admired Mr. Scott. Rock-and-roll star Lou Reed invited him on tour, saying Mr. Scott had “the most extraordinary voice I’ve ever heard in my life.” Director David Lynch used him in the final episode of his early 1990s cult TV show “Twin Peaks.” […]
• Jimmy Scott: http://www.jimmyscottofficialwebsite.org