Jackie Wilson is an African-American singer from the 1950s who was adored by absolutely all women. His popular hits remain in the hearts of people to this day. The singer's voice was unique - the range was four octaves. In addition, he was considered the most dynamic artist and the main showman of his time.
Youth Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson was born on June 9, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. His full name is Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. He was the third child in the family, but the only survivor.
The boy began to sing in his youth with his mother, who played the piano well and performed in the church. As a teenager, the guy joined a popular church music group. This decision did not depend on his religiosity, the boy liked to sing and speak to the public.
The money the church group was making was mostly spent on alcohol. Therefore, Jackie began to drink alcohol at a very young age. Against this background, the boy left school at the age of 15, and he was twice imprisoned in a juvenile correctional facility. The second time he was in prison, the guy became interested in boxing. And at the end of his prison sentence, he already competed at amateur venues in Detroit.
The Beginning of Jackie Wilson's Musical Career
Initially, the man performed in clubs as a solo singer, but then he had the idea to create a group. The singer created his first group at the age of 17. After several performances, the famous agent Johnny Otis became interested in the group. He later named the musician's group "Thrillers", and then renamed it the Royals.
After working with Johnny Otis, Jackie signed with manager Al Green. Under his leadership, he released the first version of his song Danny Boy. As well as several other creations under the stage name of Sonny Wilson that listeners liked. In 1953, the singer signed a contract with Billy Ward and joined the Ward group. Jackie was the soloist in the team for about three years. However, the team ceased to be popular after the departure of the previous soloist.
Solo career Jackie Wilson
In 1957, the singer decided to pursue a solo career and left the group. Almost immediately, Jackie released the first single Reet Petite, which was a modest success in the music industry. After that, the mighty trio (Berry Gordy Jr., Rockel Davis and Gordy) wrote and released 6 additional works for the musician.
These were such songs as: To Be Loved, I'm Wanderin', We Have Love, I Love You So, I Be Satisfied and the song of the artist Lonely Teardrops, which took 7th position in the pop charts. This famous song made a world-class superstar out of a mediocre singer, revealed all the facets of his vocal skills.
The Lonely Teardrops record has been sold over 1 million times. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awarded the singer a gold disc.
Performance style on stage
Thanks to such a return on stage (dynamic movements, lively and exciting performance of songs, impeccable image), the singer was called "Mr. Excitement". This is true, because the musician drove people crazy with his voice and peculiar body movements - splits, somersaults, sharp kneeling, crazy sliding on the floor, removing some items of clothing (jacket, tie) and throwing them off the stage. No wonder many artists wanted to copy the stage image.
Jackie Wilson often appeared on the screens. His only film role was in the movie Go Johnny Go!, where he presented the hit You Better Know It. In 1960, Jackie again released a hit and hit all the charts. The work called Baby Workout hit the top five songs of that time. In addition, in 1961 the singer wrote an album in tribute to Al Johnson. However, the work was a real "failure" for a career.
After the release of the hit Baby Workout, the man had a lull in his career. All the albums that were released turned out to be unsuccessful. But this did not affect the spirit of the artist.
The personal life of an artist
The singer had a reputation as a ladies' man and a dissolute person. He changed women like gloves, and jealous "fans" tried to shoot him. One even shot him in the stomach. After that, the man had to remove the kidney and get the bullet stuck near the spine.
In addition, the man became a father very early. At the age of 17, he married Freda Hood, who at that time was already pregnant. Despite the frequent betrayals of the artist, the couple lived in marriage for 14 years and divorced in 1965. During the marriage, the man had four children - two boys and two girls.
In 1967, Jackie had a second wife, Harlene Harris, who was a very popular model. This marriage helped restore the artist's reputation. The man met with Harlin periodically and in 1963 they had a son. The couple separated in 1969, but there was no official divorce. A little later, the artist lived with Lynn Guidry, from whom he had two children - a boy and a girl.
Illness and death of the artist
Before the concert, Jackie took saline medicine and a significant amount of water to increase sweating. He believed that his "fans" liked it. However, the use of such tablets caused hypertension.
After the death of his eldest son, the man was depressed and reclusive. Jackie abused alcohol and drugs, which negatively affected the singer's health.
In September 1975, at a performance, Jackie suffered an acute heart attack and fell right on stage. Due to lack of oxygen in the brain, the man fell into a coma. In 1976, the musician came to his senses, but not for long - a few months later he again fell into a coma.
Jackie Wilson died 8 years later due to complicated pneumonia at the age of 49. He was first buried in an unmarked grave. But after some time, fans of his talent raised money and on June 9, 1987 organized a worthy funeral ceremony for the artist. The singer was buried in a mausoleum at West Lawn Cemetery.
