Sam Moore of Sam and Dave fame has died aged 89

Legendary soul man Sam Moore, whose distinctive tenor was the basis for numerous R&B classics of the 1960s, has died. He was 89.

According to a statement released by his representatives, Moore died Friday morning in Coral Gables, Florida, while recovering from surgery.

Together with Dave Prater, Moore recorded timeless hits as the duo Sam & Dave, including “Soul Man,” “Hold On, I’m Comin'” and “I Thank You.”

The duo, which broke up in 1970, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, a posthumous honor for Prater, who died in 1988.

Moore was as prized for his radiant smile as he was for his strong but silky voice, an instrument so powerful that Bruce Springsteen frequently referred to him as “the greatest living soul singer in the world.” Moore joined Springsteen as backup vocalist on the rocker’s 1992 album Human Touch as well as 2023’s Only the Strong Survive, where he appeared with Springsteen on covers of “Soul Days” and “I Forgot to Be Your Lover.” “ sang. ”

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Sam Moore will always be a soul man

Moore was born in Miami in 1935 and grew up singing in churches in the Overtown and Liberty City neighborhoods. While friends and family – including fellow soul singer Sam Cooke – encouraged Moore to continue singing gospel, Moore had other ideas after seeing Jackie Wilson play at a local club: He wanted to be a pop star.

While working as an anchor and talent show host at the King O’ Hearts Club in Miami in 1961, Moore met Prater, who was applying for the talent show. There was an immediate vocal rapport and the pair soon received a record deal.

But after Atlantic Records’ Ahmet Ertegun, Tom Dowd and Jerry Wexler witnessed a Sam & Dave performance at King O’ Hearts in 1964, they were offered a larger contract with the label and were subsequently “loaned” to Atlantic’s southern arm Stax. Records.

The following hits – “You Don’t Know Like I Know”, “Hold On, I’m Comin'”, “When Something is Wrong With My Baby” and 1967’s “Soul Man” – solidified their skills.

This song, with its mellifluous brass and treacle vocals, won a Grammy for Best R&B Group Performance in 1967 and was elected to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

More than a decade later, with prominent placement on the Blues Brothers’ (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi) “Saturday Night Live,” “Soul Man” continued to live in pop culture lore.

Moore struggled with serious struggles in the 1970s, including a severe heroin addiction, and in the early 1980s his wife, Joyce McRae, helped save his life by enrolling him in a clinical trial of the antiopiate naltrexone .

Sam Moore was one of the favorites among the presidents

Moore has been a regular guest at the Kennedy Center and performed a moving rendition of “Take Me to the River” with Mavis Staples in honor of Al Green at the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors.

He also performed for Presidents Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and finally released his long-shelved solo album Plenty Good Loving in 2002, which was produced by saxophonist King Curtis , whose murder in 1971 led to the album’s demise.

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Sam Moore of Sam and Dave fame has died aged 89

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