Though the title of the “Queen of Disco” is commonly associated with legends like Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer, one of the first to truly reign supreme within this genre was Sylvester. Known for ...

45 years ago, disco icon Sylvester performed what would ultimately become one of his most famous concerts to date at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. The performance became the basis for ...

When you hear the name Sylvester, does your mind go to a Puddy Tat or to a bussy tap? If it's the former, get ready to be schooled. If it's the latter, prepare for a thought-provoking dance down ...

February is Black History Month — and each week, all month, World Cafe correspondent John Morrison is here to talk about a different trailblazer and maverick of Black music. These musicians took risks ...

A short documentary about the Disco legend Sylvester. Sylvester James began as a child gospel singer and sashayed past barriers of race and sexual identity to become the definitive anthemist of disco ...

Sylvester in March-1979 at the SF War Memorial Opera House – Photo: Phil Bray READ THIS STORY IN THE MAGAZINE Much of the world met Sylvester in the late ’70s as the unapologetically androgynous, ...

“He was about as outrageous as styrofoam! “When I charged into his room at the Holiday Inn, he was lying on the couch, kvetching about exhaustion, a backache, and his root canal session like a bored ...

A crowd of 50 Bay Area music fans sat in silence in the intimate Secret Alley event space in the Mission as the needle dropped on a vinyl record. The listening party, hosted by internet radio station ...

Izora Armstead and Martha Wash (a.k.a. The Weather Girls) performing at the Vic Theater in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1986. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) When “It’s Raining Men” was released ...