Jay Black

Black was born in New York City and grew up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park. His parents Herman and Francis (née Smith) raised him in the Orthodox Jewish tradition.^[1] In his later career, he was known for touring New York State and Florida, singing, mainly solo, and preceding his singing with a comedy routine. Jay and his brother spoke Yiddish fluently.^{[citation needed]} In 1966, he recorded a Yiddish song "Where Is My Village" about the Holocaust. He had four children, one of whom is American musician and singer-songwriter Beau Black.^[1][3]

Jay Black was the second, and most widely known, Jay to lead the vocal group Jay and the Americans, the first being Jay Traynor and the third being Jay Reincke. Black had come from the doo-wop group The Empires. He had sung lead on their 1962 lone Epic Records single "Time and a Place" b/w "Punch Your Nose" (Epic 5-9527). Jay and the Americans held an audition at founding member Sandy Deanne's parents' house, where Blatt stunned them with his rendition of "Cara Mia".^[4] He had previously used David Black as his professional name, but changed his first name to suit the group's existing name. The group had numerous hits, including "Come a Little Bit Closer", "Cara Mia", and "This Magic Moment".^[2] The Americans split up in 1973, and Black would continue to perform, billing himself as "Jay and the Americans".

In 2006, Black completed bankruptcy proceedings in Manhattan, after he accrued a $500,000 debt in back taxes to the IRS as a result of his gambling addiction.^[5] The IRS initially sought to force him to sell the rights to perform as "Jay Black" as well as the trademark for "Jay and the Americans" in order to satisfy his debt to the IRS. Black did, however, win a partial victory in the case, which granted him the right to continue to use the name "Jay Black", but he was required to sell the rights to perform as "Jay and the Americans".^[5] The trademark to "Jay and the Americans" was purchased by former members of Jay and the Americans.

He later performed as "Jay Black The Voice", but would still sing songs by the Americans. In 2011, Black performed for PBS, showcasing his longstanding range at age 72. His final performance was in 2017.^[6]

In a 2014 interview, Black suggested that he might have been suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, but that was not officially diagnosed.^[7]

Black died from pneumonia in New York on October 22, 2021.^[1] At the time of his death, it was confirmed that he also had dementia.^[8]