'Stand By Me' Singer Ben E. King Dead At 76 ::Ben E. King News ::antiMusic.com

'Stand By Me' Singer Ben E. King Dead At 76

05/04/2015
. (Radio.com) Ben E. King, best known as the original singer of "Stand By Me," has died. He was 76. King reportedly died of natural causes, his publicist confirmed to The Guardian on Friday (May 1).

King, born Benjamin Nelson in Henderson, N.C., moved to Harlem when he was 9 years old and joined his first doo wop group at 20. In 1958, he became one of the the lead vocalists of the Drifters, scoring a No. 1 hit on the U.S. R&B charts with "There Goes My Baby" in 1959. He also managed a No. 1 the next year, singing lead on "Save the Last Dance for Me."

But by 1960, he was out of the Drifters, moving on to a solo career under his new stage name. First came "Spanish Harlem," a modest R&B hit in the U.S., before 1961's "Stand By Me," which shot to No. 1 on R&B and No. 4 in the U.S. as a whole. Read more here.

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