YEAR
2001
INDUCTED BY
Mary J. Blige
CATEGORY
Performers
The King of Rock ‘n’ Soul.
Solomon Burke sang country-influenced soul in a booming voice that resonated in the depths of your soul. Burke’s voice is gritty, ardent—the voice of a man who has lived and seen it all.
Solomon Burke
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By John Swenson
Solomon Burke is one of the transcendent figures of Twentieth-Century American culture.
A child prodigy as a gospel singer, Burke was nicknamed “the Wonder Boy Preacher,” and by the time he was twelve, he had founded his own ministry, Solomon’s Temple, in his hometown of Philadelphia.
After signing with Atlantic in 1960, he became a key player in the birth of soul music, recording such hits as “Just Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms),” “Cry to Me,” “If You Need Me” and “Got to Get You Off My Mind.”
