Thirty years ago, on December 16th 1988, disco music star Sylvester passed away. At the time the musician was seen a star of a music genre that had faded away but today he is remembered for both his amazing music and breaking down the barriers of gender.

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Sylvester James was born in Los Angeles in 1947 and he grew up loving the gospel choir of his pentecostal church. At 22 years of age he moved to San Francisco and joined a cross-dressing cabaret show.

After several failed attempts at a music career he signed to Fantasy Records and released his first disco album in 1977. The record featured backing singers Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes – who went on to perform as Two Tons of Fun and The Weather Girls – and Jeanie Tracey.

His second album brought his first big hit, the anthemic You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) the video clip featured Sylvester appearing in clothes that highlighted his gender ambiguity.

He later worked with acclaimed disco producer Patrick Cowley and scored another hit in 1982 with Do You Wanna Funk?

While he didn’t score any other hits many of his songs have become popular with DJs as the disco sound has returned to popularity. Songs like Stars, and his rendition of I, Who Have Nothing have found new audiences in recent years. His song I Need Somebody Tonight was recently given a stellar remix treatment by disco merchants Psychemagik.

Sylvester performed at Connections Nightclub for two nights in the mid-eighties. One night his show was seriously delayed and he took to the stage launching a verbal spray at the club’s management. The show however has been remembered as a sensational performance.  

During his career Sylvester said he was proud to be a representative of the LGBT community, but also didn’t hold back from criticising the queer community for being conformist and turning into an army of clones.

During the AIDS epidemic Sylvester was  at the forefront of creating awareness, when he passed away of an AIDS related illness in 1988 he left all his future royalties to AIDS charities.

OIP Staff. This article originally suggested that Sylvester was not welcomed at his childhood church due to his sexuality. We have removed this reference as many readers questioned the accuracy of the statement.