Solomon Burke

Written by Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show Sunday, 10 October 2010 18:00

Yesterday, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Solomon Burke passed away an airport in the Netherlands. He was set to perform to a sold-out audience. Creaor of a sound that mixed gospel, country and R&B, Burke had been referred to as the "King of Rock and Soul" or the "Bishop of Soul" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
 
If you aren’t familiar with his work, you’d know the names of his major fans, which include big names like Jerry Lee Lewis, Norah Jones, Dolly Parton, Elvis Costello, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Pope John Paul II. 
 
Burke was, literally, born into music. He was born upstairs at The House of God for All People church in West Philadelphia while gospel music flowed. At age seven, he preached his first sermon and only seven years later, he would cut his first song on the Apollo label.

After signing with Atlantic Records, Burke’s best-known hits would be “Just Out Of Reach” and “Cry to Me,” which was featured in the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.” But it was his soul song of 1964, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," that would be copied by The Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett and the Blues Brothers. Legendary artists like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison would write music specifically to suit Burke's voice. Then a year later, in 1965, Burke would sing his signature song, “Got to Get You Off of My Mind.” Over the course of his career, he had six Top 10 R&B hits.
 
A child of the Philadelphia ghetto, released over 35 albums and sold 17 million records. In between his albums, he was busy raising his children - 14 daughters and seven sons. In addition to that, he worked as a trained mortician in his uncle’s funeral parlor. Burke would later buy a string of his own mortuaries in California.
 
Burke's latest album is set to be released this month. He left behind his 21 children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.