Jimmy Wayne Jamison (August 23, 1951 – September 1, 2014) was an American singer. Best known as Jimi Jamison, he earned recognition as the frontman for the rock bands Target, Cobra, and Survivor from 1984 to 1989, performing the songs "Burning Heart" from the film Rocky IV, "The Moment of Truth" from The Karate Kid, along with other top-20 Survivor hits "I Can't Hold Back", "High On You", "The Search Is Over" and "Is This Love". He officially rejoined Survivor in 2000, remaining in the group until 2006, only to rejoin again in 2011. Acclaimed for his vocal abilities, Jamison is also known for having co-written and performed the theme song "I'm Always Here" for the 1990s TV series Baywatch.
Jimmy Wayne Jamison was born in rural Durant, Mississippi, but self-identified as a Memphis, Tennessee native, as he and his mother Dorothy moved there when he was one day old. In his teens, growing up in Blues-Rock and Soul music, he taught himself how to play the guitar and piano. The first song Jimi ever performed in front of a crowd was "Day Tripper" by The Beatles, while he was in middle school (Sherwood) in the mid-1960s.[citation needed]
Jimi began playing in an R&B band called The Debuts. It was to be Jamison's first taste of success, and he was only 12 years old at the time.[citation needed] While students at Messick High School, the band had a hit with their first single, the Wayne Carson-penned "If I Cry" in 1968.[better source needed] It was a song originally intended for fellow Memphis band The Box Tops, but the group discarded the tune before recording it; Box Tops frontman Alex Chilton gave it to The Debuts instead. The band were picked up and signed by Atlantic Records. Soon the teenagers hit the road with the likes of Roy Orbison and Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, also touring with The Buckinghams. The band broke up in 1969, but Jimi and Rowell continued playing together years later before going their separate ways.

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