BET Experience

Sam Cooke

Singer After being dropped from gospel giants the Soul Stirrers for his foray into secular music in the 1950s, Cooke began a successful solo career that added a gospel tinge to his soul sound. His most notable song, "A Change Is Gonna Come," became the soundtrack to the Civil Rights struggle. Unlike other artists of the time, Cooke took the reigns of his business, creating his own publishing company and record label, SAR, which would later record the Soul Stirrers and Bobby Womack. In December of 1964, Cooke was shot to death at an L.A. hotel, by a manager who claimed he tried to attack him.

Sam Cooke

(Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

ALL
PHOTOS

Muhammad Ali and Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke was a good friend of Muhammad Ali and Ali even gave Cooke a shout out after beating Sonny Liston. The two took pictures together, hung out together and even recorded their own duet. (Photos from left: EMPICS /Landov, Michael Ochs Archive...

Sam Cooke, Shake

Led by the hit title track and a collection of B-sides and singles without a proper album home, Shake, released a year after he was shot by his manager in 1964, doesn't match to his earlier proper albums, but it still proves his King of Soul nickn...

Sam Cooke- "A Change is Gonna Come" (1964)

One of the rare musical artists who was equally adept in the pop, political and religious genres, Sam Cooke wasn't afraid to throw his hat into the political arena. The singer's 1964 single "A Change is Gonna Come," inspired by Bob Dylan's "Blowin...

3

page
of 1

Related Topics

Most Recommended