Burgess is a member of Black Ivory and lead vocalist on the majority of their hits in the early 1970s, he made his debut with the group at the age of 16.

[3] In 1970, Black Ivory, (Burgess, Stuart Bascombe and Russell Patterson) was signed by small East Coast label Today/Perception, which was run by Terry Phillips and Boo Frazier.

As a solo artist, Burgess had numerous club hits, beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s including "Let's Do It", "Fire Night Dance", "Heartbreaker", "Stranger" and "You Got That Something".

[10] He also sang background and played keyboard on many of the productions.,[11] He also co-composed (with James Calloway and Sonny T. Davenport) "Stomp Your Feet" by Herbie Mann and "Never Used to Dance" by Eddie Kendricks.

Burgess is a contributing writer on Wu-Tang Clan rapper, Raekwon's single, Criminology[12] off of his 1995 hit album "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...".

In October 2019, while on a European tour with his new band from Lyon, France called Saving Coco, group members of Black Ivory (Stuart Bascombe and Russell Patterson), joined Burgess on stage and performed for the first time together at London's Famous Jazz Cafe.