[4] Hyman is also known for her covers of popular songs, which include renditions of "Betcha by Golly Wow", "Here's That Rainy Day", and "What You Won't Do For Love".
In 1975, music industry veteran, Sid Maurer, and former Epic Records promoter, Fred Frank, discovered and signed her to their Roadshow Records/Desert Moon imprint.
One night after a Jon Lucien concert at Carnegie Hall, he saw Hyman perform and offered her a spot as the female vocalist on his fourth album for Buddah Records.
After the title song got airplay on jazz radio, You Are My Starship went gold, catapulting Hyman's, Norman Connors's, and Michael Henderson's careers to new heights.
R&B radio jumped on board and Connors and Hyman scored on the R&B chart with a remake of The Stylistics' "Betcha by Golly Wow!
She used the time to appear on movie soundtracks, television commercials and guest vocals, working with Chuck Mangione, The Whispers and The Four Tops.
[11] 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"[6] 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.
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.
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.
[12] On the afternoon of June 30, 1995, six days before her 46th birthday, Hyman died by suicide by overdosing on a mixture of tuinal and vodka in the bedroom of her New York City apartment at 211 West 56th Street.
[12] She was found unconscious at 2:00 p.m. (EDT) and died at 3:50 p.m. at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital (now Mount Sinai West), hours before she was scheduled to perform at the Apollo Theater.
It is regarded by fans and critics alike as a lyrical journey into her personal life and state of mind prior to her passing.
In April 1998, a posthumous compilation album, One on One was released with three of her earliest solo sides and nine collaborations including "Take the 'A' Train" with Gregory Hines, "Maybe Tomorrow" with the Four Tops, and "Betcha By Golly Wow" with Norman Connors.
The UK label Expansion released a jazz-soul orientated compilation in 2003 called In Between the Heartaches that featured cuts from her collaborations with Norman Connors, McCoy Tyner, Jon Lucien and Pharoah Sanders.
[20] In 2008, an original version of the James Bond theme "Never Say Never Again", which was not used in the film due to contractual issues, was released by the track's co-writer Stephen Forsythe.