05/2015 Link 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 on 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. The song has charted nine times on the US Billboard 100 over the years - King's version twice and seven times with covers by artists like John Lennon and Spyder Turner. It was also sampled for Sean Kingston's 2007 number one single ''Beautiful Girls''. In 1999, the BMI announced that the song, written by King with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was the fourth most-played track of the 20th Century on US radio and TV. Earlier this year, the US Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry, declaring that "it was King's incandescent vocal that made it a classic". King's other hits included ''Spanish Harlem'', ''Amor, Don't Play That Song (You Lied)'' and ''Supernatural Thing - Part I.''
First, Percy Sledge and now Ben E King,this is tragic having two legends dead within weeks of each other. Those men would be sorely missed.
I love the music of those past eras in which women were adored and respected by men and the men, especially black men were seen as truly romantic and inspirational in their love and respect of the women in their lives. What happen to that?
I remember the first time I had heard The Drifters version of This Magic Moment. It was different that the Jay And The Americans version which I had grown up listening to. Jay Black liked the Drifters version and didn't understand why it didn't go to Number 1 on the charts like Jay aAnd The Americans' version did. I also recall listening to Ben E. King singing There Goes My Baby(the best version). Donna Summer did a version of it. When the Film Stand By Me(based on the Stephen King short story called The Body) came out, Ben E. King appeared in the music video. They won't make music like this anymore. Thank you, Ben E. King. May You Rest In Peace.
