News of soul man Bobby Womack‘s passing at age 70 Friday, June 27, hit so hard that “RIP Bobby Womack” immediately began trending on Twitter. “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die #RIPBobbyWomack,” CeeLo Green tweeted. As a diverse roll call of celebrities, including Chuck D, Rick Ross, Omar Epps, Vivica A. Fox, Pam Grier, Jeffrey Wright, Angie Stone, Just Blaze, Vernon Reid and many more responded to his passing on Twitter, Womack’s legendary status was indeed confirmed.
Born Robert Dwayne Womack March 4, 1944 in Cleveland, Womack began recording when he was just 10 years old with his four brothers — Curtis, Harry, Cecil and Friendly Jr. — who all worked the gospel circuit in the mid- to late 1950s. Attracting the attention of the legendary Sam Cooke, the brothers were signed to his SAR Records label in 1960, eventually moving from gospel to secular music and becoming The Valentinos to mark the change. When Cooke was shot and killed in 1964, Womack fell out of music fans’ good favor when three months later he married Cooke’s widow, Barbara Cooke.
Although it was difficult for him to perform shows, his guitar prowess landed him alongside the greatest of the greats, including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix and James Brown. His first solo album, Fly Me to the Moon, in 1968 was followed by many others, including Communication (1971), Understanding and Across 110th Street (both in 1972), Facts of Life (1973) and Lookin for a Love Again (1974), which helped establish him as a go-to chart-topper in the 1970s. “Across 110th Street,” “Woman’s Gotta Have It,” “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha” and “California Dreamin’” are among his many early hits.
In 1981, Womack hit big again with his acclaimed albums, The Poet and The Poet II. The first album yielded the classic, “If You Think You’re Lonely Now,” which Jodeci’s K-Ci Hailey revived in 1994 for the Jason’s Lyric soundtrack and Mariah Carey referenced in her 2005 hit “We Belong Together.” Womack’s influence extended beyond soul and R&B. The Rolling Stones’s version of The Valentinos’ 1964 hit, “It’s All Over Now,” which he co-composed, was their first number one on the UK charts. He also lent his songwriting genius to artists like Janis Joplin and George Benson.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 and just performed recently at Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee June 14. His last album, The Bravest Man in the Universe, was released in 2012 but another album had been scheduled for release this year. Throughout his career, he battled drug addiction as well as suffered from various illnesses, including a colon cancer scare and early signs of Alzheimer’s, that probably would have killed most before now. TV One’s popular Unsung series captured Womack’s many ups and downs in January 2012.
With the BET Awards airing live on June 28, Bobby Womack is sure to be name-checked throughout the night.