A gifted vocalist with a warm tenor voice, James Ingram had developed a solid reputation fronting R&B, funk, and gospel acts through the ‘70s before meeting the legend who took his career to a new level. Quincy Jones recruited Ingram—born in 1952 in Akron, Ohio—to perform two songs on his 1981 album, The Dude, with the ballad “Just Once” becoming the first of Ingram’s many hits. He further demonstrated his flair for fortuitous team-ups alongside Patti Austin on 1981’s “Baby, Come To Me” and Linda Ronstadt on 1986’s “Somewhere Out There.” Michael McDonald, Dolly Parton, and Anita Baker valued him as a duet partner, too. In 2008, Ingram returned to his original love of gospel for the mix of new and classic songs of faith on Stand (in the Light), his last album before his death from brain cancer in 2019.