Lou Rawls - the velvet-voiced singer who started as a church choir boy and went on to record such classic tunes as You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, died Monday, January 6, 2006 of cancer. He was 72.
Rawls died at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was hospitalized last month for treatment of lung and brain cancer, according to his publicist. His wife, Nina, was at his bedside when he died. Rawls' family said the singer was 72, although other records indicate he was 70.
Rawls' deep, smooth voice was his trademark, and he used it in a variety of genres. A longtime community activist, Rawls played a major role in United Negro College Fund telethons in the 1980s that raised more than $200 million. In the '60s he often visited schools, playgrounds and community centers.
Rawls was playing small blues and R&B clubs in Los Angeles when his four-octave range caught the ear of a Capitol Records producer, who signed him to the label in 1962. His debut effort, Stormy Monday, recorded with the Les McCann Trio, was the first of his 52 albums. In 1966, his Love Is a Hurtin' Thing topped the charts and earned Rawls his first two Grammy nominations.
He won three Grammys in a career that spanned nearly five decades and included the hits Your Good Thing (Is About to End), Natural Man and Lady Love. He released his most recent album, Seasons 4 U, in 1998 on his own label, Rawls & Brokaw Records.
But his trademark will always be You'll Never Find, released in 1976 and written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, architects of the classic "Philadelphia Sound." Rawls also appeared in 18 movies, including "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Blues Brothers 2000," and 16 television series, including "Fantasy Island" and "The Fall Guy." In 1976, Rawls became the corporate spokesman for the Anheuser-Busch Cos. breweries.
Rawls was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2004 and brain cancer in May 2005. Besides his wife, Rawls is survived by four children: Louanna Rawls, Lou Rawls Jr., Kendra Smith and Aiden Rawls. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at deadline.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson will lead last rites Friday (Jan. 13) for Lou Rawls. An 11 a.m. funeral will be held at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ on Crenshaw Boulevard with Jackson officiating.Burial will be private. On Thursday, a public viewing will be held at Angelus Funeral Home starting at 3 p.m. The family requested that instead of flowers, donations be made to the United Negro College Fund.
The entertainer's last UNCF telethon, recorded in September, aired nationally over the weekend, hours after he died.
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