Over the last 12 months, we bid farewell to three R&B legends. We said goodbye to B.B. King, Percy Sledge, and Ben E King. Below, remember the lives and legacies of those we lost in 2015.
Legendary ‘King of the Blues’ B.B. King Dies at Age 89
The most famous bluesman in the world had canceled shows and was battling a diabetes-related illness
Arguably the first musician that comes to mind when most Sesame Street-raised folks think of the blues, the legendary Mississippi-born guitarist B.B. King has died, after canceling shows and being hospitalized in Las Vegas due to exhaustion and dehydration. He was 89.
Widely considered one of the greatest guitarists to have ever lived, the man born Riley B. King was known for naming his instrument “Lucille” in 1949, after running back through a burning building to retrieve it, and learning that the fire had been started when a barrel of kerosene was spilled during a fight over a woman with the same name.
His stage name “B.B.” was derived from the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy,” which dates back to his days as a disc jockey after serving in World War II. He cut his first record in 1949 and recorded for the iconic Sun label during the ….. Click here for more.
B
en E. King, soul legend and “Stand By Me” singer died of natural causes on April 30 at the age of 76.
He’s survived by his wife, three children, and six grandchildren.Born in North Carolina but relocated to Harlem at age nine, Ben E. King began his musical career in 1958 as a member of the vocal quintet the Five Crowns.
With his scratchy but peerlessly soaring voice, King would go on to have a string of crossover smashes with the Drifters, including “This Magic Moment” and the group’s second pop chart-topper, “Save the Last Dance For Me,” both of which have been covered countless times by countless artists. However, contract disputes with Treadwell led to King leaving the group in 1960, to embark upon a solo career.
That solo career would prove just as triumphant as his Drifters period. After achieving minimal sales with his first handful of singles, King finally struck gold with the lush, sweeping ballad “Spanish Harlem,” a top-15 hit co-written by rock legends Jerry Lieber and Phil Spector. He did even better with his next release, the timeless love song “Stand By Me,” whose …… Click Here for more.
US soul singer Percy Sledge, famed for his song When a Man Loves a Woman, has died aged 74.
Sledge had surgery for liver cancer in January 2014 but soon resumed touring.
Sledge’s debut single When a Man Loves a Woman reached the top 10 twice in the UK and topped the US Billboard chart for two weeks in 1966, when it also got to number four in the UK chart.
During an interview for the the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals, he recalled his first recording of it. (if you haven’t seen Muscle Shoals I recommend it. You can see it on Netflix).
“When I came into the studio, I was shaking like a leaf. I was scared,” he said, adding that it was the “same melody that I sang when I was out in the fields. I just wailed out in the woods and let the echo come back to me”.
‘Signed away the rights’
He told BBC Radio 6 Music’s Craig Charles in a 2011 interview that he came up with the melody for When A Man Loves A Woman, but signed away the rights of the song to Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, because …… Click Here for more.
Yes, Brad, the thrill is gone. We also lost Natalie Cole this week. All were fine musicians, and I’d like to think they are joining their talents with the music of the spheres!
So sad to loose these legends that contributed so much to the music world.