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Sam Cooke

File:Sam_Cooke_2.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Also known as Samuel Cook, Dale Cook

American singer and songwriter (1931–1964)

OverviewAI-generated

Sam Cooke was an American musician whose career began in 1950. He is associated with the genres of soul, rhythm and blues, gospel, and oldies. Cooke has been recognized in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame collection and the Hollywood Walk Of Fame collection.

He is credited with fifteen works, including *Abuse*, *Twenty Years a Stranger*, *Partner*, *Bu Mon*, and *Tsunami*. His music has accumulated over three million plays, with nearly two million listeners. Cooke was born on January 22, 1931, and died on December 11, 1964.

Synthesized by Vinony from 19 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Last.fm, Crossref, MusicBrainz, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Samuel
Family name
Cook
Gender
male
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Chicago
Place of death
Los Angeles
Child
Linda Womack
Languages spoken
English language
Instrument
voice
Record label
Specialty
Official website
www.samcooke.com
Image
Sam Cooke 2.jpg
Voice type
tenor
Show 14 more facts
topic's main category
Category:Sam Cooke
date of birth
1931-01-22
date of death
1964-12-11
Commons category
Sam Cooke
influenced by
James Baldwin
manner of death
homicide
cause of death
gunshot wound
birth name
Samuel Cooke
pseudonym
Sam Cooke
start of work period
1950-00-00
copyright representative
Broadcast Music, Inc.
ethnic group
African Americans
name in native language
Sam Cooke
Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

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Encyclopedic overview

Samuel Cooke (né Cook; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American soul singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distinctive vocals, pioneering contributions to the genre, and significance in popular music. During his thirteen-year career, Cooke released 29 singles that charted in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as 20 singles in the Top 10 of Billboard's Black Singles chart. In 1964, he was shot and killed by the manager of a motel in Los Angeles. After an inquest and investigation, the courts ruled Cooke's death to be a justifiable homicide. His family has since questioned the circumstances of his death. In 2015, Cooke was ranked number 28 in Billboard magazine's list of the "35 Greatest R&B Artists of All Time".

Early life

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sam Cooke” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (4)