Jerry Butler, Impressions singer known as ‘the Ice Man' who went on to forge a career in Chicago politics
Jerry Butler, the soul singer and songwriter, who has died aged 85, was known as 'the Ice Man' thanks to his smooth baritone voice and cool delivery; he had 55 US chart entries over the years, releasing his first record in 1958 and his last in 1994 – by which time he was nearly a decade into his second career, as a local politician in Chicago.
While songs he co-wrote were covered by singers including Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Dusty Springfield and Aretha Franklin, Butler saw less UK chart action, though he did command a loyal British following.
Jerry Butler was born in Sunflower, Mississippi, on December 8 1939; his parents, Jerry Snr and Arvelia, were sharecroppers. Fleeing segregation and racial violence, they joined the exodus of African Americans heading north, and in 1942 they settled in a housing project in Chicago.
Young Jerry sang in church, where his distinctive voice attracted attention – not least from another youngster, the guitar-playing Curtis Mayfield; they formed the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers and began writing secular songs together.
As the Roosters, then the Impressions, the teenagers signed to Vee-Jay Records, a Black-owned label focusing on blues and R'n'B. Their debut single, For Your Precious Love, written by the pair, was a strikingly mature work for a teenage outfit, Butler's mellifluous voice caressing a love ballad which had begun life as a poem when he was 16.
The song, which went gold, was credited to Jerry Butler and the Impressions – which led to some friction between Butler and Mayfield, especially when it reached Top 5 in the R&B charts. But Mayfield stuck around for a while and the pair continued working together. He would go on to lead the Impressions to huge success before enjoying an even bigger solo career in the 1970s.
Butler continued as a successful solo act: He Will Break Your Heart topped the R&B charts in 1960 and reached Top Ten in the pop charts, while his cover of Moon River reached No 11 in 1961 (it was the only version to make the Top 40). In 1962 he was the first singer to record the Bacharach-David song Make it Easy on Yourself , later a worldwide hit for the Walker Brothers.
His duets with Betty Everett on Let it Be Me and Smile did well with pop audiences, but his most successful year was 1968, when he teamed up with the Philadelphia International production and songwriting team, creators of the Philly Sound. Never Give You Up; Hey, Western Union Man and Only the Strong Survive – all Butler co-writes – were huge crossover hits and remain soul anthems to this day.
His album of that year, The Ice Man Cometh, is a superb example of the dynamic yet subtle R&B of which Butler was a master: he always crooned, never screamed, conveying profound emotion while always sounding in control. In 1965 he co-wrote I've Been Loving You Too Long with Otis Redding, who went on to make it a show-stopper.
Butler carried on working, but by the 1980s his chart presence was fading, and after his 1983 US tour with Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions – the old friends reuniting to sing the songs that had made them famous – he decided to change direction.
In 1985 he was elected as Board Commissioner for Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago, remaining in public office until 2018. He did, though, continue to perform and occasionally record, and gained a BA and MA in political science and music history from Governors State University in Illinois.
'I'm always prejudiced when I talk about Chicago because I think it's such a great city,' Butler said. 'Most of what's done in this city is prompted by politics and most of black politics is supported by music. And so the music and politics kind of walk hand in hand down Michigan Avenue.'
Butler's autobiography, Only The Strong Survive, was published in 2004. In recent years he had been suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Jerry Butler's wife Annette, whom he married in 1959, died in 2019; he is survived by their two sons.
Jerry Butler, born December 8 1939, died February 20 2025
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