52 Facts About Sam Cooke

Samuel Cooke was an American singer and songwriter.

Sam Cooke's family has since questioned the circumstances of his death.

Sam Cooke was born Samuel Cook in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1931.

Sam Cooke was the fifth of eight children of Rev Charles Cook, a Baptist minister in the Church of Christ, and the former Annie Mae Carroll.

Sam Cooke sang in the choir of his father's church and began his career with his siblings in a group called the Singing Children when he was six years old.

In 1950, Cooke replaced gospel tenor R H Harris as lead singer of his gospel group The Soul Stirrers, who had signed with Specialty Records on behalf of the group.

Sam Cooke was often credited for bringing gospel music to the attention of a younger crowd of listeners, mainly girls who would rush to the stage when the Soul Stirrers hit the stage just to get a glimpse of him.

Sam Cooke had 30 US top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964, plus three more posthumously.

Twistin' the Night Away was one of Sam Cooke's biggest selling albums.

Sam Cooke was among the first modern Black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career.

Sam Cooke founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer.

Sam Cooke took an active part in the civil rights movement.

When Rupe walked in on a recording session and heard Sam Cooke singing Gershwin, he was quite upset.

Sam Cooke later admitted that he got an endorsement for a career in pop music from the least likely man, his pastor father.

In 1957, Sam Cooke appeared on ABC's The Guy Mitchell Show.

In 1958, Sam Cooke performed for the famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert produced by Leon Hefflin held at the Shrine Auditorium on August 3.

Sam Cooke then created a publishing imprint and management firm named Kags.

Sam Cooke was a prolific songwriter and wrote most of the songs he recorded.

Sam Cooke had a hand in overseeing some of the song arrangements.

In 1963, Sam Cooke signed a five-year contract for Allen Klein to manage Kags Music and SAR Records, and made him his manager.

For tax reasons, Sam Cooke would receive preferred stock in Tracey instead of an initial cash advance of $100,000.

Sam Cooke would receive cash advances of $100,000 for the next two years, followed by an additional $75,000 for each of the two option years if the deal went to term.

Sam Cooke is widely considered one of the greatest singers and most accomplished vocalists of all time.

Sam Cooke's pitch was remarkable, and his manner of singing was effortlessly soulful.

Sam Cooke could go as high as high C without losing purity or volume, and his upper mid-range was coated in a unique rasp.

Sam Cooke's delivery encompassed a wide range of emotions including playful expressiveness to interact with listeners, mellow somberness as a form of reflection, and profound soulfulness.

Sam Cooke began to perform highly charged versions of his songs later in his career.

Sam Cooke was killed in an auto collision in Fresno, California, in 1959.

In 1958 Sam Cooke married his second wife, Barbara Campbell, in Chicago.

Sam Cooke fathered at least three other children out of wedlock.

In 1958, a woman in Philadelphia, Connie Bolling, said Sam Cooke was the father of her son.

Sam Cooke paid her an estimated $5,000 settlement out of court.

In November 1958, Sam Cooke was involved in a car crash en route from St Louis to Greenville, Mississippi.

Sam Cooke was a central part of the civil rights movement, using his influence and popularity with the White and Black populations to fight for the cause.

Sam Cooke was friends with boxer Muhammad Ali, activist Malcolm X and football player Jim Brown, who together campaigned for racial equality.

Sam Cooke was shot and killed on December 11,1964, at the Hacienda Motel at 91st and South Figueroa streets in South Central Los Angeles.

Sam Cooke had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, which was later determined to have pierced his heart.

Sam Cooke's account was immediately disputed by Cooke's friends, who were not there at the time of the incident.

The police record states that Franklin fatally shot Sam Cooke, who had checked in earlier that evening.

Franklin shouted back that there was no one in her office except herself, but an enraged Sam Cooke did not believe her and forced his way into the office, naked except for one shoe and a sport jacket.

Sam Cooke grabbed her, demanding again to know the woman's whereabouts.

Franklin said she hit him on the head with a broomstick before Sam Cooke finally fell to the floor and died.

Sam Cooke ended up at the Hacienda Motel, a black-owned business in south central Los Angeles.

Sam Cooke said that once in one of the motel's rooms, Cooke physically forced her onto the bed, and then stripped Boyer to her panties.

Sam Cooke allowed her to use the bathroom, from which she attempted an escape but found that the window was firmly shut.

Sam Cooke said that in her haste, she had scooped up most of Cooke's clothing by mistake.

Boyer said she then put her clothes back on, hid Sam Cooke's clothing, went to a telephone booth, and called the police.

Sam Cooke wrote that the injuries she observed were well beyond the official account of Cooke having fought Franklin alone.

James wrote that Sam Cooke was so badly beaten that his head was nearly separated from his shoulders, his hands were broken and crushed, and his nose mangled.

Sam Cooke was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Sam Cooke left her position at the Hacienda Motel and did not publicly disclose where she had moved.

Sam Cooke was portrayed by Paul Mooney in The Buddy Holly Story, a 1978 American biographical film which tells the life story of rock musician Buddy Holly.