Flourishing throughout a transitional period for R&B, Joyce Sims found success in the late '80s with a sound that drew directly from electro and freestyle rather than the emergent house and new jack swing styles. Her vocal performances -- burning and sometimes trilling, but not oversung -- were suited for emotional release on the dancefloor, and were also compatible with material rooted in traditional soul. Sims, who was also a songwriter, keyboardist, and producer, scored nine charting singles during a lengthy career highlighted by "All and All" and "Come Into My Life," the silky latter of which went Top Ten R&B in the U.S. and Top Ten pop in the U.K. She occasionally recorded and regularly performed until her death in 2022.

A native of Rochester, New York, Sims learned to play multiple instruments and studied music in college. Signed to Sleeping Bag Records, she teamed with Kurtis Mantronik, who produced her 1986 debut single, "(You Are My) All and All," which reached number 69 on the U.S. R&B chart and number six on the club chart. In the U.K., it was a number 16 pop hit. Mantronik produced the entirety of Sims' Come Into My Life. Thanks to "All and All" and the even bigger title song -- number ten U.S. R&B, number seven U.K. pop -- it was among the most successful debut albums from an R&B artist in 1987. Sims produced her follow-up All About Love, a more polished 1989 release that placed a trio of singles on the charts.

Sims' output in the '90s was limited to the 1994 single "Who's Crying Now." More active in the 2000s, she released the gospel-house single "Praise His Name" on Junior Vazquez's label in 2004, and two years later self-issued the song's spiritually minded parent LP, A New Beginning. Sims' upbeat Love Song was released in 2015, and though it would be her final album, she continued to tour into the early 2020s. She died on October 23, 2022, at the age of 63. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi