Gil Scott-Heron was conceived in Chicago (1949), Illinois. He grew up in Jackson, Tennessee, where he spent his childhood with his grandmother Lillie Scott (maternal family). Gil’s mother, Bobbie Scott-Heron, sang with the New York Oratorial Society. Gil’s father, a professional soccer player and poet, was Gil. His family is Jamaican. He moved to New York with his mother when he was 13 years old after his grandmother passed away. DeWitt Clinton High School is where he now resides. After one of his Fieldston graduates showed him one of his writings, he transferred to The Fieldston School and was awarded a full scholarship. Because it was the college that Langston Hughes, his greatest influence, chose to attend, Gil attended Lincoln University. Gil met Brian Jackson at Lincoln University and formed the band “Black.”
