‘Stand By Me’ singer Ben E. King has passed away, according to his publicist. According to the reports and his publicist’s statement, King died on Thursday after suffering from a heart ailment. He was 76 years old, so this doesn’t come as a shock or surprise, but it’s still a major loss for the music community.
‘Stand By Me’ is a classic that almost everyone knows, largely because it’s been covered several times since its debut in 1961. When the song first came out, it made it to the Billboard chart’s Top Five, but then made a massive return to the charts in the 80s when John Lennon and other famous singers began covering it. Even now, it remains one of the most popular songs to cover, even by established and well-known musicians.
And although Ben E. King’s career may be defined by this one song, his legacy in the soul music world remains that of a patient, kind, and extremely talented man who worked extremely hard and who had many loving people around him.
He also completed a tour in the UK in 2013 and played concerts in the US last year, so this heart ailment clearly hasn’t been an issue that has been plaguing him for too long – or if it has, it wasn’t anything too serious. However, he did die of natural causes and nothing drug or alcohol related, which is almost a refreshing change of things in Hollywood. A talented man, leaving behind only a legacy of great music.