Hyman sang with
Pharoah Sanders and the
Fatback Band while working on her first solo album,
Phyllis Hyman, released in 1977 on the
Buddah Records label. When
Arista Records bought Buddha, she was transferred to that label. Her first album for Arista,
Somewhere in My Lifetime, was released in 1978; The group had a hit with "
Can't Shake the Feeling". In the late 1970s, Hyman married her manager Larry Alexander (the brother of Jamaican pianist and melodica player
Monty Alexander), but both the personal and professional associations ended in divorce. Around this time, Hyman began using cocaine, for which she developed a lifelong dependency. Hyman's first solo R&B Top-Ten hit came in 1981 with "
Can't We Fall in Love Again?", a duet with
Michael Henderson. The song was recorded while she was performing in the
Broadway musical
Sophisticated Ladies, a tribute to
Duke Ellington. She toured often and did a college lecture tour. In 1983, Hyman recorded the song "Never Say Never Again" as the title song for the
James Bond movie of the same name, written by Stephen Forsyth and Jim Ryan. However, Warner Brothers informed Forsyth that
Michel Legrand, who wrote the score for the film, had threatened to sue them, claiming he contractually had the rights to the title song. An alternate title song composed by Legrand was eventually used for the film and performed by singer
Lani Hall, formerly of
Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66. Free from Arista in 1985, Hyman released the album
Living All Alone on
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's
Philadelphia International label in 1986, capitalizing on the torch songs, "Old Friend" and the melancholy title track, as well as "You Just Don't Know". In 1987, Phyllis Hyman recorded "Black and Blue" as a duet with
Barry Manilow on his 1987
Swing Street Arista album. Manilow was a long time admirer of Hyman and her work. Shortly afterward, she appeared in the films
School Daze (1988) and
The Kill Reflex (1989). She would also continue to lend her voice to albums for other artists and musicians, including
Grover Washington, Jr. and
Lonnie Liston Smith, while at the same time doing international tours. Hyman's next album,
Prime of My Life, released in 1991, again on Philadelphia International, was the biggest of her career. It included her first number-one R&B hit, as well as her first
Billboard Top 100 hit, "
Don't Wanna Change the World". The album provided two more top 10 R&B singles in "Living in Confusion" and "When You Get Right Down to It", and the less successful "I Found Love". Just over a year later, she appeared one last time on a
Norman Connors album, singing the title song, "Remember Who You Are", which became a minor R&B hit. The album and debut single were both RIAA certified Gold in 1992. ==Death==