James "J.T." Taylor (born August 16, 1953, Laurens, South Carolina) is an American singer and actor best known as the former lead singer of the R&B/funk band, Kool & the Gang. Before his rise to fame, Taylor was a schoolteacher and amateur night club singer having first joined a band at the age of 13. He joined Kool & the Gang in 1978 and became the band's lead singer in 1979.

In 1979, Kool & the Gang released the platinum-selling album, Ladies' Night, which garnered the hit singles, "Too Hot" and "Ladies' Night", solidifying Taylor's status as the group's frontman for years to come. Taylor and Kool & the Gang's next three albums were also successful including the 1980 album, Celebrate! which produced perhaps the group's most recognizable hit to date, "Celebration".

During Taylor's solo career, he briefly reunited with Kool & the Gang, releasing the 1996 album, State of Affairs. Although the album was well received by critics, it was not commercially successful in comparison to Kool & the Gang's releases from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

During the 1990s, Taylor began his acting career in earnest appearing in the 1992 Hollywood film The Mambo Kings, and the long-running Broadway musical, Raisin. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.