Jerry Butler, lead singer of R&B group The Impressions and an achieved Chicago politician, has died at 85 years outdated, The Chicago Solar-Occasions reviews. Though no reason for loss of life was disclosed, Butler had been dwelling with Parkinson’s illness.
A adorned soul singer who went on to function a Windy Metropolis commissioner, Butler was born in Mississippi and raised in Chicago, the place he bought his begin singing in a neighborhood church choir. He introduced these vocals to The Impressions after assembly Curtis Mayfield within the mid-Nineteen Fifties. Throughout his three years as an Impression, Butler wrote the group’s 1958 solo hit “For Your Precious Love” earlier than departing on good phrases to pursue a solo profession.
After some rising pains, every thing got here collectively when he met Philly soul architects Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, with whom he developed his traditional 1962 album The Iceman Cometh. The data spawned main hits together with “Only the Strong Survive” and “Never Give You Up.” All through his solo profession, Butler additionally wrote music for numerous different artists. He composed the Otis Redding traditional “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” which has since been coated by music royalty from Aretha Franklin to Etta James to the Rolling Stones.
With practically twenty years in music below his belt, Butler pivoted to politics later in life, rising to the rank of Cook dinner County, Illinois board commissioner by 1994. As fellow commissioner Larry Suffredin instructed the Chicago Reader: “I think [he] got into [politics] for only one reason—he felt that he had a voice because of all the blessings he’d been given, and that he could use it for other people.”
However at the same time as he pivoted to civic service, his leisure accolades continued coming. The Impressions—and Butler with them—had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 1991. And as a solo artist, Butler joined the Nationwide Rhythm & Blues Corridor of Fame in 2015, happening to obtain its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
Chatting with the Solar-Occasions, Smokey Robinson referred to as Butler “one of the great voices of our time.” In their very own assertion, Gamble and Huff echoed the sentiment, sharing: “We deeply and sincerely mourn the loss of our dear and longtime friend the great Jerry Butler aka ‘The Iceman’ for his cool, smooth vocals and demeanor. He was a one of a kind music legend!”
Butler was married to his spouse Annette—who he met whereas she was working as his backup singer—for 60 years. She handed away in 2019. Butler is survived by two sons, Randy and Anthony.
