Yep, “Just Once”/”One Hundred Ways” crooner, James Ingram, is the older brother of Phillip Ingram (of Switch). They come from a musical family of six brothers and sisters who all sang and played instruments, but only James and Phillip pursued a musical career.

Phillip Ingram speaks about always being asked if James is his brother and how he was influenced by James first band, Revelation Funk back in the day:

Phillip Ingram: “The answer is YES…and let me tell you what solidified me knowing without a shadow of a doubt, ain’t got to think twice about it, my decision to do music as a living. I was either 12 or 13, ‘Revelation Funk’, my brother’s [James Ingram] band, performed at the Akron Civic Center. They had done some touring up in Canada and was just back. I saw that particular show, was very proud of my brother and said, ‘this is what I’m going to do’.”

“Well not too long after that I got into my first band ‘Raw Soul.‘ Just about that time Revelation Funk moved to California to try and make it big. The band eventually broke up but James decided to stay and make a go of it. As you may know the story, 4 years later when SWITCH was getting together that’s when I called James and told him that I had a record deal and he couldn’t believe it because he was out in California and I was still in Akron,OH. So during that time when SWITCH was on the rise James wasn’t known yet. But in every interview when I was asked who was your inspiration into the music industry, I would always respond ‘My brother, James.’ From the time that SWITCH did their first record, it had only been about 10-11 years since James had brought me to my first rehearsals, and only about 4 – 5 years from the time that I had made my decision to do music for a living.[…] I’m still proud of what he’s acomplished in the music industry. I also know that this is a long answer to the question, is James Ingram Your Brother? I could’ve just said ‘yes’ but I figured I give a little more background.”

Nowadays James still performs to sold out crowds with many of his music friends, ranging from old school to new school such as, Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, Will I Am, etc. His faith and family have always been at the center of his life – music is something he does and he’s recently said that “Music is an important part of my life, but it’s not all of my life,” James said. “My family is my life. I never confuse what I am with what I do.”

James has been married to his wife, Debbie for 39 years and they have six children.

His last album was a gospel album that was released in 2008, so we look forward to getting some new music from this brotha real soon.

Phillip Ingram, Quincy Jones, and Phillip’s wife.

Since 1984, Phillip has gone behind the scenes singing background for such artists as Quincy Jones, Kenny G, Lionel Richie, Celene Dion, Kanye West, Julio Iglesias, Barbara Streisand and many, many more.

He’s also worked on quite a few films like “Father Of The Bride II”, “The Little Mermaid”, “My Best Friends Wedding”, to name a few and many commercials. As a songwriter he’s co-written songs for various artists such as Patti Austin, The Temptations, Janet Jackson, and more.

Phillip is also a faculty member at the California College of Music (CCM), and teaches vocal lessons twice a week with their Vocal Arts Program.

The original members of Switch

It looks like both brothers are still following that same dream that never died within them ever since they were youngins watching their older brother, Henry, create music and trying to hit it big before the world ever knew who they were. Much respect to them for giving us that timeless, feel good music that used to let us know when it was time for the slow dancing to jump off at the house parties back in the day.

See more video and pics of the Ingram brothers..