Sam Moore, one-half of the Sam & Dave duo, died on Friday, Jan. 10. He was 89.
The celebrated R&B singer died after surgical procedure in Coral Gables, Fla., his spouse and longtime supervisor, Joyce Moor, confirmed to The New York Times.
Moore was born in Miami on Oct. 12, 1935. He began skilled singing within the late Nineteen Fifties when he met his future associate, Dave Prater. By 1961, they met once more on the King of Hearts membership in Miami and shortly started performing collectively as a music group. By 1964, Atlantic Information watched the 2 carry out after which supplied them a contract.
Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
All through the Nineteen Sixties, they hit their stride, and the pair launched R&B hits, together with “Maintain On, I’m Comin,’ ” “I Thank You,” and “Soul Man.” The latter topped the charts and hit No. 2 on the pop charts in 1967. The observe additionally gained a Grammy for greatest rhythm & blues group efficiency, vocal or instrumental.
The 2 break up in 1970 and Moore recorded a solo album, A lot Good Lovin’, which was launched in 2002.
All through their careers, they’d break up and reunite a number of occasions when their solo careers didn’t attain the success they needed.
Gie Knaeps/Getty
“It was a duo,” Moore stated within the 1998 e book Sam and Dave: An Oral Historical past. “However it wasn’t a partnership.”
The pair carried out collectively for the ultimate time on New Yr’s Eve 1981 in San Francisco, and as soon as they left the stage, they by no means spoke once more, per The New York Occasions. Across the identical time, they each struggled with a heroin habit. After assembly Joyce McRae, she finally grew to become his supervisor and urged him to take part in trials for anti-opiate therapies. By 1983, he went public along with his habit and volunteered with individuals combating the identical difficulty.
John Springer Assortment/CORBIS/Corbis through Getty
Throughout his solo profession, Moore toured with a number of performers, together with Bruce Springsteen. In the meantime, Prater recruited a brand new associate, Sam Daniels, and so they labored collectively and referred to as themselves Sam & Dave, regardless of Moore’s objections. The unique duo had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 1992. Six years later, Prater died in a deadly automobile accident.
In 2019, the duo acquired a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2019.
Moore is survived by his spouse, Joyce, their daughter Michelle, and grandchildren Tash, and Misha.
