R&B legend Ben E King dies at 76
R&B and soul singer Ben E King, best known for the classic song “Stand By Me”, has died at the age of 76.
King started his career in the late 1950s with The Drifters, singing hits including “There Goes My Baby” and “Save The Last Dance For Me”.
After going solo, he hit the US top five with “Stand By Me” in 1961. It returned to the charts in the 1980s, including a three-week spell at number one in the UK following its use in the film of the same name and a TV advert.
King's other hits included “Spanish Harlem”, “Amor”, “Don't Play That Song” and “Supernatural Thing - Part I”.
The singer died on Thursday, his publicist Phil Brown told BBC News.
Fellow musician Gary US Bonds wrote on Facebook that King was “one of the sweetest, gentlest and gifted souls that I have had the privilege of knowing and calling my friend for more than 50 years.”
Actor Jerry O'Connell, who played Vern in the film “Stand By Me” alongside River Phoenix and Corey Feldman, tweeted: “You know you are good when John Lennon covers your song. Ben E King was a wonderful and immensely talented man.”
Born Benjamin Earl Nelson, he initially joined a doo-wop group called The Five Crowns, who became The Drifters after that group's manager fired the band's previous members. He co-wrote and sang on the band's single “There Goes My Baby”, which reached number two in the US in 1959.
He originally intended “Stand By Me” for The Drifters, but said they turned it down. So he worked on the song when Atlantic Records boss Ahmet Ertegun paired him with writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The song went on to chart nine times on the US Billboard 100 - King's version twice and seven times with covers by artistes like John Lennon and Spyder Turner. It was also the fourth most-played track of the 20th Century on US radio and TV.
The star also established the Ben E King Stand By Me Foundation, a charity that says it helps “deserving youths working to further their education and to assist various civic organisations and associations in their efforts to improve the quality of life of their constituents.”
Source: BBC