James Ingram was born in Akron, Ohio. He began his career in the '70s as part of the band Revelation Funk with Bernard Lawson, Sr., also from Akron.

During this time, Ingram developed a reputation in the Los Angeles area as a session vocalist, and came to the attention of ex-Motown songwriter and producer Lamont Dozier. Dozier invited Ingram to contribute vocals to some material; one such song, "Love's Calling," garnered some airplay. The remainder of the material surfaced in 1980 on the album Zingara.

Ingram performed two solos on the 1985 recording and video of "We Are the World" and was featured on "Somewhere Out There," a duet with Linda Ronstadt on the soundtrack to the 1986 film An American Tail. He also won a 1985 Grammy Award for "Yah Mo B There," a duet with Michael McDonald. He also co-wrote "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" that was recorded by Michael Jackson on his blockbuster Thriller.

His 1994 composition "The Day I Fell in Love", from the movie Beethoven's Second (on which he dueted with Dolly Parton) was nominated for an Oscar.

During the summer of 2006, Ingram participated in the U.S. television reality show Celebrity Duets as a duet partner. The show combined professional vocalists, of different musical genre, with entertainers of different backgrounds in a weekly elimination competition.