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Solomon Burke, the great soul singer, dead at 70

Posted at 1:58 PM on October 10, 2010 by Bill DeVille

solomon.jpg

Soul singer Solomon Burke is dead at the age of 70. The man record producer Jerry Wexler called "the greatest soul singer" died en route from Los Angeles to Amsterdam where he was to perform a concert Tuesday. He reportedly died of natural causes on the plane, and was pronounced dead at Schiphol Airport.

Burke was the maker of many 60's hits like, "Cry to Me," and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love." He is also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He had a nice career renaissance releasing several very good albums late in his career, including Nashville, which featured guests like Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Buddy Miller. Last year he released the album, Nothing's Impossible, which was produced by Willie Mitchell, who was the man responsible for all those Al Green recordings. Mitchell died shortly thereafter. There is another album of new material on the way!

Solomon Burke was a man of many talents. He was a mortician, and a preacher. Always active in the church, he sang in the choir in his native Philadephia as a boy and later performed for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 2000. He was also quite an entrepreneur. In his early days he was known to sell everything from popcorn to pork chops at his shows. Burke was also quite a family man, he leaves behind 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.

Rest in peace, King Solomon Burke.

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