Songwriters Hall of FameInducted 1987 | BMI Writer

Sam Cooke, the son of a Baptist minister, Reverend Charles Cooke, Sr. and Annie May Cooke, was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1931. The family moved north to Chicago in 1933 and it was there that Cooke first entered the world of gospel singing, performing with his brothers, Charles Jr., L.C. and sisters, Mary and Hattie as The Singing Children.

At 15, he commenced a four-year period as lead singer of the famed teenaged gospel group, The Highway QC's. During this time, Cooke also found time to attend Chicago's Wendell Phillips High School, where he graduated in 1948 as an “A” student and class valedictorian. He was also voted most likely to succeed.

The following year, when he was 19, he was chosen by Roy Crain, manager of the Treat gospel group, The Soul Stirrers, to replace the legendary R. H. Harris as lead singer. As a member of The Soul Stirrers, he began his writing and recording career, on Specialty Records, with such gospel classics as "Touch the Hem of His Garment," and That’s Heaven to Me." For six years, he established a new standard for gospel expression. At the height of his fame in the gospel world, with the encouragement of his father, he decided to move on and in 1957, he left Specialty Records and joined Keen Records where he wrote and recorded such major hits as "You Send Me," "Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha", "Only Sixteen" and "What a Wonderful World."

In 1958 Cooke married his childhood sweetheart. They had two daughters, Linda and Tracey and a son, Vincent, who died tragically in 1963.

Cooke sired with RCA Records in 1960, where his hits included "Chain Gang," "Cupid," "Twistin' the Night Away," "Havin' a Party" and "Bring it on Home to Me." Three years later, another change found Cooke signing with ABCKO Records, where his credits included "Another Saturday Night," "Good Times," "Shake" and his timeless classic, "A Change is Gonna Come." Cooke is also the first black artist to establish his own record company Sar Records with his partner J. W. Alexander.

Sam Cooke's songwriting catalog contains over 150 songs and today, nearly 30 years after his writing career began, the music endures with cover records by such major names as Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, The Supremes, Herman's Hermits, The Animals, The Rolling Stones, Percy Sledge, Rod Stewart, Ray Charles, The Spinners, Nina Simone, Jim Croce, Art Garfunkel, The Pointer Sisters, Lee Greenwood, Solomon Burke, Luther Vandross, The Manhattans, John Lennon and Tina Turner.

After his tragic death in the late 1970’s, the legacy continues with each generation: in 1986, the Cooke song "What a Wonderful World," sold over one million copies and attained the number one chart position. In the same year, an album of his work, "Sam Cooke; The Man and His Music," sold over 600,000 copies.

Related Songwriters