Womacks death comes as something of a surprise. Though he was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease two years ago and overcame addiction and multiple health issues, including prostate and colon cancer, recently, he seemed in good health and spirits when he performed earlier this month at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Sam Cooke discovered Womack and his brothers in 1956 and dubbed them The Valentinos. The family group ended when Cooke died in 1964, but Womack continued writing and performing for decades after. In 2009, after Womack’s Rock Hall induction, EW’s Sean Howe wrote an article praising the singer as one of the most underrated R&B artists of all time. “His always-at-the-edges-of-history career has gotten a share of ink over the years, and was the dominant theme in Ron Wood’s induction speech Saturday,” Howe wrote at the time. “But as a great songwriter, he’s been given short shrift. He wrote a few albums’ worth of songs for Wilson Pickett, then did the arrangements on those albums, and you can even hear Womack’s vocal mannerisms intact (if a little more wicked).”
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 12:36:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015