Samuel Cook, better known by his stage name Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter who was born on January 22, 1931 and died on December 11, 1964.
Cooke is frequently referred to as the “King of Soul” for his distinctive vocals, significant contributions to the genre, and importance in popular music. He is regarded as a pioneer and one of the most important soul performers of all time.
Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, but moved to Chicago with his family when he was a small child. There, he started singing as a child and, in the 1950s, became the lead singer for the Soul Stirrers.
When Cooke went solo in 1957, he immediately put out a number of popular songs, including “You Send Me,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Cupid,” “Wonderful World,” “Chain Gang,” “Twistin’ the Night Away,” “Bring It On Home to Me,” and “Good Times.” In the course of his eight-year career, Cooke put out 29 singles that reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Pop Tracks list in addition to 20 black singles that reached the Top Ten of the chart.
The manager of a Los Angeles motel shot and killed Cooke in 1964. Following an investigation and inquest, the courts determined that Cooke’s death was a justified homicide. His death’s circumstances have since been questioned by his family.
Cooke’s innovative contributions to soul music helped make Otis Redding and James Brown more well-known and helped Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Billy Preston ascend to prominence. Cooke was “the inventor of soul music,” according to AllMusic writer Bruce Eder, and he had “a great natural singing voice and a smooth, effortless delivery that has never been excelled.”
Cooke played a significant role in the civil rights struggle as well, leveraging his popularity and influence among both the White and Black communities to further the cause. He was close friends with football player Jim Brown, civil rights activist Malcolm X, and boxer Muhammad Ali, all of whom worked together to promote racial equality.
Sam Cooke siblings: Meet Agnes Cook, Charles Cook Jr., David Cook, Hattie Cook, L.C. Cooke, Mary Cook, Willie Cook.
Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, as Samuel Cook in 1931. (he added the “e” to his last name in 1957 to signify a new start to his life).
He was the sixth of Charles Cook’s eight children, a pastor in the Church of Christ (Holiness), and Annie Mae’s family.
L.C. (1932-2017), one of his younger brothers, eventually joined the doo-wop group Johnny Keyes and the Magnificents.
Although L.C. Cooke was a singer, writing songs was where he found the most success. The fifth of the Rev. Charles Cook and Annie May’s ten children, L.C. Cook (whose family name is spelled without the “e”) was born two years after Sam.
While Sam was the most evident future star in the family, L.C. was also a developing vocalist when he was still a young boy. The entire family was musical and steeped in gospel. Sam and two of his sisters founded the Singing Children in the late 1930s; L.C. eventually joined the group to form a gospel quartet.
The two performed together in the family group the Singing Children and afterward in the Nobleairs. They also had some success as members of the Highway Q.C. in the late 1940s. When L.C.’s older brother joined the Soul Stirrers in 1951, they stopped performing together.
Not much has been heard about the rest of the family since the death of Sam Cooke.
