Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He achieved success and recognition with the Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and 1960s. Mayfield is regarded as a driving force behind soul and of politically conscious African-American music. Being one of the most celebrated figures in the genre of soul and 20th-century music, Mayfield is a winner of both the Grammy Legend Award (in 1994) and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (in 1995), and he was a double inductee into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted as a member of the Impressions in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He is also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Mayfield started his musical career in the Gospel choir. Moving to Chicago's North-side he met Jerry Butler in 1956 at the age of 14, and joined The Impressions which would shape most of his formative career. Mayfield is noted as one of the first musicians to bring more prevalent themes of social awareness into soul music. In 1965, Curtis composed People Get Ready for The Impressions, a soul song that displayed Mayfield's more politically charged songwriting. Listed at no. 24 on the Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the song also received other numerous awards, and was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, as well as being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. After departing from The Impressions in 1970, Mayfield released several solo albums, including the soundtrack for the Blaxploitation film Super Fly in 1972. The soundtrack was unique for having social commentary in the lyrics, mostly dealing with problems surrounding inner city minorities, addressing crime, poverty and drug abuse. The album was featured at number 72 on the Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Mayfield continued his career throughout the 1970's and 1990's even after being paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York on August 13, 1990. Mayfield released his final album New World Order in 1997, before dying from complications of diabetes on December 26, 1999, at the age of 57