His phrasing made him a favorite of artists including Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Frankie Valli, Dinah Washington and Nancy Wilson.

[4] He rose to prominence as Little Jimmy Scott in the Lionel Hampton band as lead singer on "Everybody's Somebody's Fool", recorded in December 1949.

A similar event occurred several years later when his vocal on "Embraceable You" with Charlie Parker, on the album One Night in Birdland, was credited to the female vocalist Chubby Newsom.

Another album, The Source, was recorded in 1969, released in 1970, but due to another Lubinsky threat of breach of contract, it was not promoted by Atlantic and quickly went out of print.

[8] Scott's career faded by the late 1960s, and he went back to his native Cleveland to work as a hospital orderly, shipping clerk, and elevator operator.

He returned to music in 1989 when manager Alan Eichler arranged for him to share a late-night bill with Johnnie Ray at New York's Ballroom.

Also in attendance at Pomus's funeral was Seymour Stein, founder and operator of Sire Records, which released Scott's 1992 album All the Way, produced by Tommy LiPuma and featuring Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, and David "Fathead" Newman.

His next work, an album of pop and rock interpretations entitled Holding Back the Years (1998), was produced by Gerry McCarthy and Dale Ashley.

Holding Back the Years features cover art by Mark Kostabi, liner notes by Lou Reed, and includes versions of "Nothing Compares 2 U" (written by Prince), "Jealous Guy" (John Lennon), "Almost Blue" (Elvis Costello), "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (Elton John and Bernie Taupin) and the title track "Holding Back the Years” (Simply Red).

He was also mentioned on The Cosby Show (season 2, episode 25), when Clair and Cliff Huxtable bet on the year in which "An Evening in Paradise" was recorded.