The Untold Truth Of Cicely Tyson

Posted by Tamela Phillippe on Sunday, April 28, 2024

Miles Davis and Cicely Tyson met in New York in 1966. According to the Los Angeles Times, Davis remarked, "She had a different kind of beauty that you didn't usually see in Black women on television; she was very proud-looking and had a kind of inner-burning fire that was interesting." In 1967, he used her face for the cover of his album, Sorcerer.

According to Miles: The Autobiography, by 1968, Davis had married another woman, Betty Mabry, and they divorced in 1969. After, there was a long period where Davis sank into a deep cocaine addiction. Toward the end of the '70s, at the height of her career, Cicely Tyson came back into Davis' life. She helped him deal with his addiction, and the two married on Thanksgiving Day in 1981 at the home of Bill Cosby. Miles began composing music again and released two albums, one of which had a song titled "Star on Cicely."

Miles Davis wrote of how the couple had trouble getting along and fought regularly. He even confessed to having an affair days after their wedding. While their relationship was on the downslope for many years, it was not until 1989 that their divorce was final. In 1991, Miles was hospitalized for "organ failure after decades of drug and alcohol abuse." Tyson was not able to see him before he died, but a friend of hers relayed a message from Davis: "Tell Cicely I'm sorry. Tell her I'm very, very sorry" (via the LA Times).

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