Sam Cooke, 1931-1964: A Singer Who Crossed Racial Lines

19 February 2011

Sam Cooke performs at New York City's Copacabana Night Club in this undated photo.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: I'm Shirley Griffith.

RAY FREEMAN: And I'm Ray Freeman with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Every week we tell about someone important in the history of the United States. This week we tell about singer and songwriter Sam Cooke.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The song is called "You Send Me." It was written and sung by a young singer and songwriter, Sam Cooke.

During the late nineteen fifties and early sixties, Sam Cooke was one of the biggest stars in the music industry. His smooth voice and musical style were popular with both blacks and whites. His influence still is present in today's music.

RAY FREEMAN: Sam Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in nineteen thirty-one. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a minister in a Baptist church. Sam started singing religious music when he was only fifteen years old. When he was nineteen, he became the lead singer of a famous gospel singing group called the Soul Stirrers.

He became gospel music's biggest star while singing with the group the Soul Stirrers.

In nineteen fifty, he began writing and recording for the Soul Stirrers. During his six years with the group, Cooke brought his own kind of expression to gospel music. He became gospel music's biggest star. His good looks and singing abilities made him very popular among women, both young and old.