Sam Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi on January 22, 1931. Sam was the fifth of eight children, and their father, Charles, was a Church of Christ minister. Cooke’s family relocated to Chicago in 1933, where he attended Doolittle Elementary and Wendell Philips Academy High School.
Sam began singing at the age of six when he joined his siblings in the Singing Children. In his early teens, he became the lead singer for the American gospel group the Highway Q.C’s.
What was Sam Cooke’s net worth at the time of death?
Sam Cooke was an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur who died with a net worth of $2 million. After inflation, that equates to about $17 million in today’s dollars.
Cooke became the lead singer of the Specialty Records gospel group the Soul Stirrers in 1950. The song “Jesus Gave Me Water” was the first to be released with Sam.
Cooke was credited with introducing gospel music to a younger audience, primarily young girls who came to see the Soul Stirrers in order to catch a glimpse of Sam. Cooke released his first solo single, “Lovable,” in 1956.
Because there was a stigma against gospel singers performing secular music, he released the song under a pseudonym in the hopes of avoiding his gospel fan base. No one, however, was fooled by Sam’s distinct vocals.
Art Rupe, the head of Specialty Records, initially encouraged Cooke to record secular music. Still, when Cooke discovered Sam was covering Gershwin, they got into a fight, and Cooke left the Soul Stirrers and their label.
