Roy Hamilton: Biography

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• Chuck Jackson
• Rawls, Lou
• Jerry Butler
• Sam Cooke
• Dee Clark
• Jackie Wilson
• Roy Brown

• Herb Jeffries
• Billy Eckstine

• Tommy Hunt
• Roy Shirley
• Solomon Burke
• Elvis Presley
• Marvin Gaye

• Searchlight Singers

• Bill Cook
• Jesse Stone

Born:

Apr 16, 1929 in Leesburg, GA

Died:

Jul 20, 1969 in New Rochelle, NY

Genres:

Vocal Jazz Music, R&B and Soul Music, Classic R&B Music, Rock Music, Soul Music

Decades Active:

1950's|1960's

Artistic Quality

Low

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Low

Ratings Guide

An extremely influential vocalist despite having a rather short career, Roy Hamilton had both classical training and gospel experience. Hamilton studied commercial art in high school and was a heavyweight Golden Gloves boxer before starting his music career as a member of The Searchlight Singers. During the mid and late '50s, Hamilton's dramatic, searing voice and treatments of such songs as "You'll Never Walk Alone," "If I Loved You," "Ebb Tide," and "Unchained Melody" were enormously popular. "You'll Never Walk Alone" topped the RB charts for two months in 1954, while "Unchained Melody" topped the RB charts for three weeks, and was his only Top Ten pop hit. Jackie Wilson and Roy Brown were among the singers whose sound was affected by Hamilton, while The Righteous Brothers did their own versions of "You'll Never Walk Alone," "Ebb Tide," and "Unchained Melody" (which later got new life via the film Ghost). Hamilton had to retire from 1956 to 1958 due to exhaustion. He suffered a stroke in 1969 and died at age 40.

- Ron Wynn, All Music Guide