Latest news with #JerryButler
Otago Daily Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Obituary: Jerry Butler, musician
Jerry Butler on 10 August, 1980 in Chicago. Soul star Jerry Butler's musical talents eclipsed those of many of his contemporaries, musicians who he spent much of his latter life helping. The son of Mississippi sharecroppers, Butler was raised in Chicago and worshipped at the Travelling Souls Spiritualist Church, presided over by the Rev A.B. Mayfield. The preacher's grandson, Curtis Mayfield, and Butler, were part of The Impressions, a vocal group which had a big local hit with For Your Precious Love, but who fell out because the record company renamed the group Jerry Butler and the Impressions. Butler, still regularly working with Mayfield, went solo: hits included I've Been Loving You Too Long (with Otis Redding) and Only the Strong Survive, later covered by Elvis Presley. As his music career faded out Butler went into local politics and served more than 30 years on the Cook County Board. He also chaired the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which offers assistance to musicians, and pushed the industry to provide medical and retirement benefits. Jerry "The Ice Man" Butler died on February 20 aged 85. — APL/agencies
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
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 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
Dispute erupts over former Cook County Commissioner Jerry Butler's burial plans
The Brief A dispute has arisen over Jerry Butler's burial plans, with his family struggling to gain access to his body for a memorial service. Tony Butler, his son, has been unable to view his father's body since his death on Feb. 20, with a caregiver preventing the family from making arrangements. The family is urging the caregiver to allow the body to be part of the memorial service on March 12, while the caregiver plans to proceed with a burial on March 7. CHICAGO - Jerry Butler, a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and former Cook County commissioner, passed away nearly two weeks ago, but a dispute has emerged over who controls his final arrangements. What we know Butler's family is grieving his death, compounded by additional stress. His son, Tony, is organizing a memorial service for his father. However, the family's attorney says Butler's caregiver is preventing the family from having access to his body for the service. Tony said he hasn't been able to view his father's body since his death on Feb. 20, and that he was also denied access to see his father for eight months leading up to his death. Butler, who recorded his first hit in 1958 at age 16 with Jerry Butler and the Impressions, earned the nickname "The Iceman" for his calm demeanor. What they're saying "A decent human being would say, 'family, what do you want? Give the family access to the home.' They have pictures of them with their father and their mother and we're only lucky right now that because we planned her service, I still have a lot of those photos so that we can move forward," said family spokesperson Teresa Griffin. "But for them to not have even access to go into the home, for finalization, is so sad." "She started getting rid of all of his family. They used to come by and then she stopped opening the door. She made sure if they called, she would screen his calls," another family member said. What's next The family's lawyer said the caregiver once claimed to be Jerry's niece but now refers to herself as a friend, as identified in Butler's will. The family is urging the caregiver to allow Butler's body to be present at the memorial on March 12. The caregiver is planning to bury him on March 7.
USA Today
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Jerry Butler, Impressions singer known as the Iceman, dies at 85: Reports
Jerry Butler, Impressions singer known as the Iceman, dies at 85: Reports Jerry Butler, cofounder of the Impressions and baritone singer/songwriter known for hits such as "For Your Precious Love" and "Only The Strong Survive," has reportedly died. He was 85. The soul musician, who earned two Grammy nods in his lifetime, died Thursday at his Chicago home, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Times and The Washington Post. The Post and the Sun-Times cited Butler's family members, while the Times received confirmation from his assistant. They reported he had been living with Parkinson's disease. A representative for Illinois' Cook County, which includes Chicago, mourned the passing of the "dedicated public servant," who served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners for three decades. "I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Jerry 'The Iceman' Butler, a legendary artist, dedicated public servant, and beloved member of our Cook County community," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement shared with USA TODAY Friday. His "contributions to music and public service are immeasurable. As a founding member of The Impressions, his distinguished voice helped shape the sound of R&B and soul, leaving an indelible mark on American music. "Jerry Butler was more than a musical icon," Preckwinkle's statement continued. "As a Cook County Commissioner from 1985 to 2018, he worked tirelessly to expand healthcare access, improve infrastructure, and advocate for policies that strengthened our communities. His leadership as Chair of the Health and Hospitals Committee helped ensure that critical resources reached those in need." From the Impressions to 'The Iceman' The Missouri-born talent was 3 years old when his parents — who were sharecroppers, according to the Sun-Times and the Post — moved the family to Chicago as part of what's now known as the Great Migration. In the late 1950s, he formed the Impressions with his childhood church friend Curtis Mayfield, who died in 1999. They'd originally set out on a musical venture with a doo-wop group called the Roosters in 1957. Alongside members Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Art Brooks, the following year they signed with a local music label, Vee-Jay Records. Branded as Jerry Butler & the Impressions, they released their debut single, 'For Your Precious Love,' and "Come Back My Love" together. While the Impressions – with Fred Cash on board – went on to become the "sound of the civil rights movement" per the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Butler struck out on his own as a solo artist in 1960. The split was reportedly rooted in tensions surrounding his name being top billed in the group's marketing. Butler then released 1960's "He Will Break Your Heart," cowritten with Mayfield, which rose up the Billboard charts and earned him a No. 7 spot on the Hot 100. It also spent seven weeks in the top spot on the R&B charts. Over the course of his career, two more of his songs – the Betty Everett duet "Let It Be Me" as well as his collaboration with songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff "Only The Strong Survive" – charted in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, with a total 38 tracks making it on the list throughout his career. "Only the Strong Survive" became Butler's highest-charting hit, per Billboard, and went on to be covered by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley and Rod Stewart. Along the way, Butler also picked up the nickname "The Iceman," a descriptor for his understated nature that is largely attributed to Philadelphia-based DJ Georgie Woods. In 1991, Butler was inducted along with the other members of the Impressions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. How Jerry Butler inspired Bruce Springsteen Speaking with the Asbury Park Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2022, Springsteen revealed he had become a fan of Butler's due to his manager's recommendation, eventually naming his album after the 1960s hit. "I wasn't super familiar with Jerry Butler until I went searching for material for this record," Springsteen said of his 2022 album "Only the Strong Survive." "(Manager) Jon Landau was the huge Jerry Butler fan and he suggested 'Hey, Western Union Man,' and I said I don't know (it). I listened to it. It was kind of complicated and then I got into it really deeply," he said, adding that the record was going to be called either "Soul Days" of "Nightshift" before he was inspired to use the title of Butler's hit. "I'm thinking about doing another (record) and the next one I do I'm going to call 'Only the Strong Survive.' Jon said it's a great title; we've got to use that now," Springsteen said. "So I came back and spent the day, cut the song and through that I got introduced into more Jerry Butler stuff and I've cut more of his things since then."
Voice of America
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Voice of America
Soul singer Jerry 'Iceman' Butler dies at 85
Jerry Butler, a premier soul singer of the 1960s and '70s whose rich, intimate baritone graced such hits as "For Your Precious Love," "Only the Strong Survive" and "Make It Easy on Yourself," has died at age 85. Butler's niece, Yolanda Goff, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Butler — whose show business nickname, "The Iceman," was given to him for his understated style — died Thursday at his home in Chicago. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a three-time Grammy Award nominee, Butler was a voice for two major soul music hubs: Chicago and Philadelphia. Along with childhood friend Curtis Mayfield, he helped found the Chicago-based Impressions and sang lead on the breakthrough hit "For Your Precious Love," a deeply emotional, gospel-influenced ballad that made Butler a star before age 20. A decade later, in the late '60s, he joined the Philadelphia-based production team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, who worked with him on "Only the Strong Survive," "Hey Western Union Man" and other hits. His albums "Ice on Ice" and "The Iceman Cometh" are regarded as early models for the danceable, string-powered productions that became the classic "Sound of Philadelphia." Butler was also a songwriter, collaborating with Otis Redding on "I've Been Loving You Too Long," a signature ballad for Redding; and with Gamble and Huff on "Only the Strong Survive," later covered by Elvis Presley, among others. His credits also included "For Your Precious Love," "Never Give You Up" (with Gamble and Huff) and "He Will Break Your Heart," which Butler helped write after he began thinking about the boyfriends of the groupies he met on the road. "You go into a town; you're only going to be there for one night; you want some company; you find a girl; you blow her mind," Butler told Rolling Stone in 1969. "Now you know that girl hasn't been sitting in town waiting for you to come in. She probably has another fellow and the other fellow's probably in love with her; they're probably planning to go through the whole thing, right? But you never take that into consideration on that particular night." Link to Mayfield Butler was the son of Mississippi sharecroppers who moved north to Chicago when he was 3, part of the era's "Great Migration" of Black people out of the South. He loved all kinds of music as a child and was a good enough singer that a friend suggested he come to a local place of worship, the Traveling Souls Spiritualist Church, presided over by the Reverend A.B. Mayfield. Her grandson, Curtis Mayfield, soon became a close friend. (Mayfield died in 1999.) In 1958, Mayfield and Butler, along with Sam Gooden and brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks, recorded "For Your Precious Love" for Vee-Jay Records. The group called itself the Impressions, but Vee-Jay, eager to promote an individual star, advertised the song as sung by Jerry Butler and the Impressions, leading to estrangement between Butler and the other performers and to an unexpected solo career. "Fame didn't change me as much as it changed the people around me," Butler wrote in his memoir, Only the Strong Survive, published in 2000. One of his early solo performances was a 1961 cover of 'Moon River,' the theme from the film 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.' Butler was the first performer to hit the charts with what became a pop standard, but 'Moon River' would be associated with Andy Williams after the singer was chosen to perform it at the Academy Awards, a snub Butler long resented. His other hits, some recorded with Mayfield, included "Find Another Girl" and "I'm A-Telling You." By 1967, his formal style seemed out of fashion, but Butler was impressed by the new music coming out of Philadelphia and received permission from his record label, Mercury, to work with Gamble and Huff. The chemistry, Butler recalled, was so "fierce" they wrote hits such as "Only the Strong Survive" in less than an hour. "Things just seem to fall into place," Butler told Ebony magazine in 1969. "We lock ourselves in a room, create stories about lovers, compose the music, then write the lyrics to match the music." By the 1980s, Butler's career had faded, and he was becoming increasingly interested in politics. Encouraged by the 1983 election of Harold Washington, Chicago's first Black mayor, he ran successfully for the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1985 and was re-elected repeatedly, even after supporting a controversial sales tax increase in 2009. He retired from the board in 2018. Butler was married for 60 years to Annette Smith, who died in 2019, and with her had twin sons. Many of his generational peers had struggled financially and he worked to help them. He chaired the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which provides a wide range of assistance to musicians, and pushed the industry to provide medical and retirement benefits. Butler considered himself relatively lucky, even if he did pass on the chance to own a part of Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International recording company. "You know, I have lived well. My wife probably would say I could've lived better," Butler told the Chicago Reader in 2011. "Did I make 40, 50 million dollars? No. Did I keep one or two? Yes. The old guys on the street used to say, 'It's not how much you make. It's how much you keep.' "
