Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield was born on June 3, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. He met singer Jerry Butler while performing in a church choir in 1956 and joined Butler’s band, the Impressions. In 1970, Mayfield embarked on a solo career, with his most memorable project credited as the classic 1972 soundtrack to Superfly. Mayfield began singing by the age of 7. He also taught himself to play guitar, led his own gospel and soul group, the Alphatones, and began composing music and writing lyrics before he was a teenager. In 1956, Mayfield moved with his family to Chicago’s North Side, where he met singer Jerry Butler while performing in a church choir. Butler convinced the 14-year-old Mayfield to join his soul band, then called the Roosters. Two years later, after renaming itself the Impressions, the group scored a No. 11 hit with “For Your Precious Love.”

After Butler left the Impressions to pursue a solo career, the group reformed with Curtis Mayfield as its leader. Mayfield wrote the songs, produced the records, played guitar and sang lead. During the 1960s, the heyday of the Impressions, the group brought its potent mixture of gospel, soul, and doo-wop to a total of 14 Top 10 recordings, including “Gypsy Woman” and “It’s All Right.” “Keep on Pushing,””People Get Ready” and “I’m So Proud,” established Mayfield as both a pioneer of soul music and a singular voice of the Civil Rights Movement. In 1970, Mayfield began a solo career, recording a series of albums and working as a producer for artists like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight and the Pips. His most memorable solo project was the classic 1972 funk album Superfly, the soundtrack to the hit “blaxploitation” film of the same name. Superfly was the No. 1 album on the pop charts for four weeks.

He was involved in a tragic accident where he became paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him at an outdoor concert. Fortunately he was able to write, produce, sing, and record while lying on his back, but sadly was unable to play the guitar anymore. Mayfield suffered another setback late in the 1990’s when his right leg was amputated due to complications from diabetes.In 1995, Mayfield was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was then inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999. Amongst his class were Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, George Martin, and The Staple Singers. On December 26, 1999 Curtis Mayfield died at North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell, Georgia at the age of 57.