Full Name
Date of Birth
December 1, 1933[1][2][3]
Place of Birth
Chicago, Illinois, United States[1][2][3]
Date of Death
January 6, 2006 (lung and brain cancer)[1][7]
Place of Death
Los Angeles, California, United States[1][2][7]
Parents Names
Information about Lou Rawls’ parents is not available in the search results.
Children Names
Lou Rawls Jr., Louanna Rawls, Kendra Smith, Aiden Allen[4]
Affiliated Organizations’ Names
Capitol Records[1][5], United Negro College Fund[4], U.S. Army[8]
Louis Allen Rawls, known as Lou Rawls, was an American baritone singer, record producer, composer, and actor. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles. Rawls was known for his smooth vocal style and his ability to adapt to jazz, soul, gospel, and rhythm and blues. He was also a high school classmate of music giant Sam Cooke, and they sang together in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a ’50s gospel group. After graduating from Chicago’s Dunbar Vocational High School, he sang briefly with Cooke in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a local gospel group, and then with the Holy Wonders. In 1956, he stepped back from his burgeoning career to enlist in the army. After his discharge in 1958, he began to perform secular music. Rawls’s debut album, Stormy Monday (1962), was a collection of jazz songs, but he did not have a hit single until the soulful “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing” (1966), off his first rhythm and blues album, Soulin’. Rawls won three Grammy Awards during his career[2][3][4].
Achievements
Lou Rawls was a versatile artist who made significant contributions to various genres of music, including gospel, R&B, soul, jazz, blues, and pop[9]. He released 61 albums and sold more than 40 million records[1]. His hit song “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” topped R&B charts and reached number two on pop charts[7]. Rawls won the American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist in 1979[1][3]. He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1982[1][3]. Rawls won three Grammy Awards: one for “Dead End Street” in 1967, another for “A Natural Man” in 1971, and a third for “Unmistakably Lou” in 1977[5][3].
Social Justice Contributions
Lou Rawls was not only a successful musician but also a dedicated philanthropist. He helped raise over $150 million for the United Negro College Fund (UNCF)[5]. In 1980, he started the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon, an annual show used to raise funds for the UNCF[7]. His commitment to the UNCF was commemorated with an award given each year to a popular artist whose career reflects the quality of commitment to UNCF and its mission[5]. Rawls also served in the U.S. Army, touring American military bases internationally[8]. In addition to his philanthropic work, Rawls also ventured into acting in films and voice work in popular animated series[7].
Citations: [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Rawls [2] https://iep.utm.edu/justwest/ [3] https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712675/awards/ [4] https://study.com/learn/lesson/theory-of-justice-john-rawls-summary-analysis-quotes.html [5] https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/lou-rawls [6] https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=mjrl [7] https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lou-rawls-1933-2006/ [8] https://philarchive.org/archive/MATRAR-6 [9] https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lou-rawls-mn0000233228 [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice [11] https://www.grammy.com/artists/lou-rawls/5829 [12] https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1560&context=faculty_scholarship [13] https://facts.net/celebrity/24-intriguing-facts-about-lou-rawls/ [14] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/josp.12517 [15] http://sam.rhodes.tripod.com/theoceanreporter/id492.html [16] https://academic.oup.com/book/5106/chapter-abstract/147691474?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Citations: [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Rawls [2] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lou-Rawls [3] https://www.last.fm/music/Lou+Rawls/+wiki [4] https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/lou-rawls-1933-2006/ [5] https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/lou-rawls/ [6] https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712675/ [7] https://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2007-Pu-Z/Rawls-Lou.html [8] https://army.togetherweserved.com/profile/343131