Philip Gossett was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 27, 1941. He received a bachelor's degree from Amherst College and a doctorate from Princeton University. He joined the faculty of the University of Chicago in 1968, where he remained for the rest of his academic career. He was a musicologist who helped bring long-lost operas back to the stage. His book, Divas and Scholars: Performing Italian Opera, was published in 2006. He died on June 13, 2017 at the age of 75.