Photo: Mykal Burns! / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Michael Henderson had one of those careers that quietly underpins music history. Playing bass for Miles Davis on landmark fusion records like Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and Agharta in the early 1970s would be a career for most people, yet he then reinvented himself as an R&B and soul vocalist with hits like You Are My Starship. That dual identity, sideman to one of jazz's most demanding bandleaders and then a smooth soul frontman, is what I admire most. Coming out of Yazoo City, Mississippi, he carried a deep groove sensibility into everything. His death in 2022 closed the book on a genuinely versatile musician.
Overview
Michael Earl Henderson (July 7, 1951 – July 19, 2022) was an American bass guitarist and vocalist. He was known for his work with Miles Davis in the early 1970s on early fusion albums such as Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, and Agharta, along with a series of his own R&B/soul hits and others featuring him on vocals, particularly the Norman Connors-produced hit "You Are My Starship" in 1976 and other songs in the mid to late…
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Michael Henderson
- Name (Japanese)
- マイケル・ヘンダーソン
- Reading
- まいける・へんだーそん
- Born
- January 1, 1951 – July 19, 2022
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Capricorn / Rabbit
- Origin
- Yazoo City, Mississippi, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- bassist / singer / musician / record producer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Bassist — see all → · Singer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.