Gil was born in Chicago, Illinois, from the father who is a Jamaican footballer Gilbert Heron and the singer's mother Bobbie Scott. He spent his childhood in Jackson, Tennessee, before moving to New York with her mother, who at that time was divorced. Gil started a career in singing debut in 1970 with the debut album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. The album contains songs about social topics and politics at the time, including the title song The Revolution Will Not Be televised.
The song, which is often used for the campaigns of blacks, so-called world music have influenced hip-hop, including rapper Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def and Kanye West, who became Scott-Heron generation current with critical album, My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy. Gil's other popular works include the album Pieces of a Man (1971) and Winter in America (1974). He has also published five books of poetry and muse over the years. Then, he had reportedly contracted HIV positive and struggling with drug abuse that led to prison sentences in 2001 exposed.