Solomon Burke was born on March 21, 1940, in an upstairs room of a Philadelphia church. The singer/songwriter went on to become known as the King of Rock and Soul. He began singing country recordings before moving on to gospel, blues, jazz and soul. When he was only 14 years-old, Burke signed with Apollo Records and recorded under the label for a few years. By the time he was 17, he found himself on hard times without a recording contract and much of his profits.
“I had to go through being a bum on the street, living in abandoned cars, eating pork and beans out of the can, begging for nickels and dimes on the corner,” Burke recalled. “God wanted me to go through those trials and tribulations, so I could understand having and wanting, and knowing how to show compassion, and help others as well as myself.”
Atlantic Records had their eye on young Solomon for quite some time, and after Ray Charles had left the label, Solomon was signed. When he showed up for his first recording session at Atlantic, he was given a country song to sing. The song, “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)”, which had already been recorded by Patsy Cline, among others, was released the following year and became the first hit of Solomon’s for Atlantic. He followed suit with “Cry to Me” and “Down in the Valley”. He would have his biggest smash with the #1 R&B hit “Got to Get You Off My Mind” in 1965.
By the 1970s, however, Burke had receded from the spotlight and had begun working as a mortician and undertaker in Los Angeles. He was also ordained a minister and preached part-time for the rest of his life. His music career enjoyed mediocre success with his continuous release albums, and in 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But his career was revived with the release of Don’t Give Up on Me in 2002, which won the Grammy Award for Best Contempory Blues Album and whose title track gained popularity and introduced Burke to a new generation of music lovers. The song also became a staple of his live performances (see below).
In 2006, Burke returned to his country roots with Nashville. The album release was celebrated with a concert with a number of country stars. It was followed by Like a Fire, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2008. That same year, Burke performed at a number of music festivals, tours and concerts and began work on what would be his last solo album, Nothing’s Impossible, which was released April 6, 2010. Burke toured Japan for the first time in May of this year and began his “Year of the Dream Love Tour” across Europe in July.
Solomon Burke died early Sunday, October 10th of natural causes on a plane that had just landed at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. He was scheduled to perform a sellout show on Tuesday in Amsterdam to celebrate the release of what is his final work, a collaboration album entitled Hold On Tight written by Dutch pop/soul band De Dijk. He is survived by 21 children (14 daughters and 7 sons), 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. The Burke Family issued a statement saying: “Although our hearts and lives will never be the same, his love, life and music will continue to live within us forever.”
Angel, ma help me understand this statement “At the age of 17, he found himself on hard times without a recording contract and much of his profits”…does this mean BEOFRE that age he had MADE profits, which he (at 17) found himself doing without…I’m confused, I’d think at that age he would have been struggling to FIRST get a contract but this sounds like he fell on hard times by the time he was 17 AFTER having achieved “profits”…SMH maybe thats my limited English understanding please forgive me..but its an interesting statement..especially because Wiki says in the 60′s is when he got his FIRST contract which would be when he was in his twenties..
am i reading this right?! 21 children (are all them his),90grandchildren, the 21children and 19 great-grandchildren…….lawd no comment.
21 children?! I can’t…
He also had 17 wives!!…why leave that part out.
#1: He started recording at age 14 for an independent label, Apollo, but because of fraudulent business practices, Burke quit the music industry in 1957 and was forced to live on the street.
Thanks for your amazing contribution to music, you will be missed
God Bless
Great story. Sidebar: I want that cape he is wearing in that photo for a photoshoot.
Life is so beautiful. Maybe you want to check out the best c lub named
” [Bl-a/ck] [wh-it-/e] [fl-ir-/ts]” [C0/''m]
a nice place for seeking interr acial love.which gives you a chance to make your -life better and open opportunities for you to meet the attractive sin gles and treat you like a king or Q-ueen. Maybe you wanna check it out or tell your friends !!!
I am so sorry but I can not get passed the first picture or the fact this man had 21 children. Someone please come close my jaw.
dude pimpin’ hard in that cape and hat, ain’t he? lol
@TAJ- that was first thing I noticed…lol
When I first started reading, I was like wow… a nice positive story. Then I saw 21 children and 17 wives. Ummm, who were these dumb women? Imagine being number 10, did they think they were special each time he asked to marry them? LOL
It’s unfortunate that he was homeless, probably married all those women so it wouldn’t happen again.
I’m being mean (so I should stop, that’s someones dad).
Many Blessings to his family.
@PAI thats how he got those 21 Children. lol
R.I.P COUSIN……. He was just like his Pop my Great Uncle! Pimpin in the blood!!
17 wives, 90 grandkids??! how can anyone tolerate that much familial interaction nowadays (since you can’t legally beat the sh*t outta people haha) and not go crazy? I’d be ready to die…
Thanks J Dakar… you all know that CL Rocks!! LOL
Angel still waiting on the tee-shirts. 
Hmm…Interesting story. I too was ready for a positive “Disney, American Dream” story, and then is changed.
I went to high school with two of his grandchildren.
1 of em,is also in music. great voice.
So So.
she’s actually in one of the related videos up there, Etna Blues?
CL should check her out….