Gilbert Scott-Heron was an American jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s.
44 Facts About Gil Scott-Heron
2.
Gil Scott-Heron referred to himself as a "bluesologist", his own term for "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues".
3.
Gil Scott-Heron's recording work received much critical acclaim, especially for "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised".
4.
Gil Scott-Heron received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.
5.
Gil Scott-Heron is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History and Culture that officially opened on September 24,2016, on the National Mall, and in an NMAAHC publication, Dream a World Anew.
6.
In 2021, Gil Scott-Heron was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a recipient of the Early Influence Award.
7.
Gil Scott-Heron's mother, Bobbie Scott, was an opera singer who performed with the Oratorio Society of New York.
8.
Gil Scott-Heron's father, Gil Heron, nicknamed "The Black Arrow", was a Jamaican footballer who in the 1950s became the first black man to play for Celtic FC in Glasgow, Scotland.
9.
Gil Scott-Heron's parents separated in his early childhood and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother, Lillie Scott, in Jackson, Tennessee.
10.
When Gil Scott-Heron was 12 years old, his grandmother died and he returned to live with his mother in The Bronx in New York City.
11.
Gil Scott-Heron enrolled at DeWitt Clinton High School but later transferred to The Fieldston School, after impressing the head of the English department with some of his writings and earning a full scholarship.
12.
Gil Scott-Heron was very heavily influenced by the Black Arts Movement.
13.
Gil Scott-Heron began his recording career with the LP Small Talk at 125th and Lenox in 1970.
14.
Bob Thiele of Flying Dutchman Records produced the album, and Gil Scott-Heron was accompanied by Eddie Knowles and Charlie Saunders on conga and David Barnes on percussion and vocals.
15.
Gil Scott-Heron was joined by Jackson, Johnny Pate as conductor, Ron Carter on bass and bass guitar, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Burt Jones playing electric guitar, and Hubert Laws on flute and saxophone, with Thiele producing again.
16.
In 1979, Gil Scott-Heron played at the No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden.
17.
Gil Scott-Heron was a frequent critic of President Ronald Reagan and his conservative policies.
18.
Gil Scott-Heron recorded and released four albums during the 1980s: 1980 and Real Eyes, Reflections and Moving Target.
19.
Gil Scott-Heron toured extensively with Scott-Heron and contributed to his next album, Moving Target the same year.
20.
Gil Scott-Heron was dropped by Arista Records in 1985 and quit recording, though he continued to tour.
21.
Gil Scott-Heron is known in many circles as "the Godfather of rap" and is widely considered to be one of the genre's founding fathers.
22.
In 2001, Gil Scott-Heron was sentenced to one to three years imprisonment in a New York State prison for possession of cocaine.
23.
Gil Scott-Heron was released on parole in 2003, the year BBC TV broadcast the documentary Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
24.
Gil Scott-Heron was arrested for possession of a crack pipe during the editing of the film in October 2003 and received a six-month prison sentence.
25.
On July 5,2006, Gil Scott-Heron was sentenced to two to four years in a New York State prison for violating a plea deal on a drug-possession charge by leaving a drug rehabilitation center.
26.
Gil Scott-Heron claimed that he left because the clinic refused to supply him with HIV medication.
27.
Malik Al Nasir dedicated a collection of poetry to Gil Scott-Heron titled Ordinary Guy that contained a foreword by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin of The Last Poets.
28.
Gil Scott-Heron released his album I'm New Here on independent label XL Recordings on February 9,2010.
29.
Gil Scott-Heron described himself as a mere participant, in a 2010 interview with The New Yorker:.
30.
Gil Scott-Heron died on May 27,2011 in New York City following a trip to Europe.
31.
Gil Scott-Heron had confirmed previous press speculation about his health, when he disclosed in a 2008 New York Magazine interview that he had been HIV-positive for several years, and that he had been previously hospitalized for pneumonia.
32.
Gil Scott-Heron was survived by his firstborn daughter, Raquiyah "Nia" Kelly Heron, from his relationship with Pat Kelly; his son Rumal Rackley, from his relationship with Lurma Rackley; daughter Gia Scott-Heron, from his marriage to Brenda Sykes; and daughter Chegianna Newton, who was 13 years old at the time of her father's death.
33.
Gil Scott-Heron is survived by his sister Gayle; brother Denis Heron, who once managed Scott-Heron; his uncle, Roy Heron; and nephew Terrance Kelly, an actor and rapper who performs as Mr Cheeks, and is a member of Lost Boyz.
34.
Lupe Fiasco wrote a poem about Gil Scott-Heron that was published on his website.
35.
Gil Scott-Heron is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Westchester County in New York.
36.
Gil Scott-Heron was honored posthumously in 2012 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
37.
Rackley continued to serve as court-appointed administrator for the estate, and donated material to the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture for Gil Scott-Heron to be included among the exhibits and displays when the museum opened in September 2016.
38.
Gil Scott-Heron's work has influenced writers, academics and musicians, from indie rockers to rappers.
39.
Gil Scott-Heron has been described by music writers as "the godfather of rap" and "the black Bob Dylan".
40.
In classic albums such as Winter in America and From South Africa to South Carolina, Gil Scott-Heron took the news of the day and transformed it into social commentary, wicked satire, and proto-rap anthems.
41.
Ben Sisario of The New York Times wrote, "He [Gil Scott-Heron] preferred to call himself a "bluesologist", drawing on the traditions of blues, jazz and Harlem renaissance poetics".
42.
Gil Scott-Heron, in turn, acknowledged West's contributions, sampling the latter's 2007 single "Flashing Lights" on his final album, 2010's I'm New Here.
43.
Gil Scott-Heron admitted ambivalence regarding his association with rap, remarking in 2010 in an interview for the Daily Swarm: "I don't know if I can take the blame for [rap music]".
44.
Gil Scott-Heron is one of eight significant people shown in mosaic at the 167th Street renovated subway station on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx that reopened in 2019.