Biografia

Singer, best known for his hit song "Stand By Me".

Elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of The Drifters) in 1988.

He left The Drifters in 1960 and embarked on a successful solo career. "Spanish Harlem" reached the Top 10 that year. "Stand by Me", which he co-wrote, reached the Top 10 in 1961 (and again in 1986, when it was used in the soundtrack of the Rob Reiner film of the same name, Stand by Me - Ricordo di un'estate (1986)).

He changed his surname to King, which belonged to a favorite uncle, soon after joining The Drifters.

He grew up in Harlem, where his father had moved the family when he was a child. He began singing in church choirs. In high school, he formed a doo-wop group, the Four B's, that occasionally performed at the Apollo Theater.

Those things don't happen today. I feel sorry for the kids in the industry today. They have on sunglasses, eat caviar in jet planes, but they'll never know the true feeling that we did.

You were able to sing something they related to instantly, because it was part of what you felt. It was part of what you had already traveled through. It's part of the people you were associating with daily. It was all of that.

And, because there was an honesty about all that was going on. It connected with the people in the street.

I still think my whole career was accidental. I didn't pursue it. I feel like I'm cheating sometimes.

I do like what Alicia Keys and John Legend are doing. With their music, you keep your clothes on.