This morning, the legendary singer of soul Solomon Burke died at age 70. Burke died in an aircraft on arrival at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam where he was to give a concert on Tuesday night.The "King of Rock & Soul» was born in Philadelphia on March 21, 1940 and began his career as a pastor and a radio show host. In 1960 he signed a record deal with Atlantic Records and his first success was the adaptation of the country song "Just Out Of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)".
In 1962 he had a hit with "Cry To Me", which became successful again when it was heard in the film "Dirty Dancing".
In 1964 he wrote the most important track of his career "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love", that was adapted the next year by Rolling Stones on their second album "The Rolling Stones No. 2", while surely we all remember from the movie "The Blues Brothers" where Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi interpreted the song with Blues Brothers.
Solomon Burke is a member of Rock And Roll Hall of Fame from 2001 and in 2003 won the Grammy for best contemporary blues album with "Don't Give Up on Me", an album that brought him back to the public and in which participated as songwriters Elvis Costello , Bob Dylan , Van Morrison and others
He continued to release records until the end of his life, with the last, "Hold On Tight" where he cooperates with the Dutch rock band De Dijk , to be released in October.
Solomon Burke leaves behind, apart from such an important musical legacy, 21 children and 90 grandchildren.
Solomon Burke - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love