Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson was born on June 9, 1934, in Highland Park, the Detroit enclave, and few singers have ever owned a stage the way he did. They called him "Mr. Excitement", and he earned it: a master showman who sang and moved with a kind of reckless electricity. He came up through Billy Ward and His Dominoes before going solo in 1957, and from then on the hits came in every shape, from rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll to doo-wop, soul and even easy listening.

"Reet Petite", "Lonely Teardrops", "Baby Workout", "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" are only the start of more than 50 chart singles, including 16 top-10 R&B hits, 6 of them number ones, and 14 top-20 pop hits. Singers from Elvis Presley and James Brown to Michael Jackson are often said to have learned from the way he performed. He helped carry R&B into soul.

The story ends cruelly. In 1975 he had a heart attack during a performance, and he never really came back: he lingered, barely conscious, for nine more years before he died on January 21, 1984. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in 1987, and two of his recordings entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.