For British people my age (or me, at least), King dying so soon after Percy Sledge is pretty weird. 'Stand By Me' and 'When A Man Loves A Woman' occupied the top two spots in the charts in early 1987, on the back of the Levi adverts.
Don't know what to say. His life's work has been part of mine for pretty much it's entirety. It will still be there of course, but altered now in the knowledge that he's not.
Seemed like a top guy too. Stand By Me is, apparently, one of the most lucrative musical properties in history, and all his royalties go to the Stand By Me Foundation:
"The purpose of the Ben E. King Stand By Me Foundation is to assist various civic organizations in their missions to improve the quality of life of the people they serve, and to assist young people who have accepted responsibility for their emotional, social and educational growth and development. The major thrust of the foundation will be to assist those organizations that provide services in the areas of poverty, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, teen pregnancy and domestic violence. The foundation will also assist individuals in their quest for post-high school educational goals."
In yet another of those inexplicable confusions, I think I always thought (not really being a 'fan' of either) that Ben E King and BB King were the same person.
He's one of the few artists who changed names mid-career. As the singer of The Drifters, he went by his legal name, Benjamin (Earl) Nelson, adopting the Ben E. King moniker only when he went solo.
I don't think there are an awful lot of stars that did somnething like that, other than Prince and his squiggle shenanigans.
Bowie recorded under his given name, but wasn't a star before he changed his name. Marc Bolan was known in some circles before he became Bolan, but he wasn't famous.
Was he a star before he became Gary Glitter? I had indeed forgotten about Fenton Stardust.
Cher had records out under two monikers before she became half of Bono & Cher: as Cherilyn and as Bonnie Jo Mason (a track called "Ringo, I Love You").
Country singer Ferlin Husky likewise recorded under two names before becoming famous with his given name: Terry Preston and Simon Crum.
Not really, but he changed his name mid-career - which was my point of reference. (For those in any doubt, he originally recorded as Paul Raven, but didn't trouble the chart statisticians under this name.)
Of course, these days he's known by a series of digits.
Edit: Jonathan King, of course, had hits under a number of different aliases, such as Bubblerock, 100 Ton & a Feather, 53rd & 3rd and Shag. It comes as little surprise that these dodgy types are pretty adept at changing their identities.
Iggy's name change came after his bandmates started calling him "Iggy Pop", so it was a nickname that gradually became his stage name. I think this is more organic and innocent than the rather cynical way in which Stardust and Glitter were named to jump on a bandwagon that Bolan and Bowie had already started.
Are there other examples of a stage name organically evolving from a nickname? Sting always claimed he had that nickname at school but this is often regarded as a self-serving myth (according to Radcliffe and Maconie, for example)
Lorraine Mazzola of Reperata and the Delrons changed her name to Reperata when she was promoted from a Delron to lead voice when the former Reperata, Mary O'Leary, quit to go solo.
"Stand By Me" was one of the songs when Mrs. House Cat and I married. The other was "Lets Stay Together".
Loved Ben E. King. Loved The Drifters. RIP Ben. Thanks man.
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