Singer Sam Moore, the surviving partner of Sam & Dave, the duo behind “Soul Man” and other hits, has died at age 89, according to published reports.
His publicist, Jeremy Westby, told The Associated Press that Moore died Friday morning in Coral Gables, Fla., of complications while recovering from surgery. No additional details were immediately available.
Alternately known as “Double Dynamo,” “The Sultans of Sweat” and “The Dynamic Duo,” Moore and his partner Dave Prater, who died in 1988, influenced generations of vocalists and musicians with their R&B songs.
Tributes poured in as artists absorbed the news:
“I don’t know if all of you reading this even know how Sam Moore (Sam and Dave) is part of the soundtrack to my life. Rest In Beats Mr Sam,” Chuck D., the frontman of the rap group, posted Public Enemy, in X.
“RIP Sam Moore,” posted musician Steve Van Zandt on X. “One of the last of the great Soul Men. He and Dave Prater were the inspiration for me and Johnny to start Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. A man wonderful fair and important.”
Posting on X, Chic frontman and guitarist Nile Rodgers said goodbye to “a great Soul Man and a great friend, Sam Moore! Condolences to his many family and friends.
the duo scored crosses in “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin”, the former of which was performed by actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, in their guise as “The Blues Brothers”.
Moore had mixed feelings about the success associated with the “Saturday Night Live” stars, recalling how young people believed it originated with the Blues Brothers, the AP reported.
They separated in 1970, according to The Associated Press.
Moore, whose admirers range from Al Green to Bruce Springsteen, was inducted with Prater into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
On the Stax Records label in Memphis, Tennessee, Moore and Prater ranked behind only Otis Redding as the label’s biggest stars.
They transformed the “call and response” of gospel music into a frantic show and recorded some of soul music’s most enduring hits, which also included “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” “When Something is Wrong With My Baby” and “I appreciate you”.
Most of their hits were written and produced by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter and featured Stax house band Booker T. & the MGs, whose guitarist Steve Cropper received one of most famous shouts in music when Sam & Dave shouted “Play it, Steve” halfway through “Soul Man”.
In 2008, the movie “Soul Men” featured a pair of aging, separated singers who looked more than a little like Sam and Dave. Moore lost a lawsuit claiming the resemblance was too close.
He also spent years suing Prater after Prater hired a replacement and toured as the New Sam & Dave. Prater died in a car accident in 1988 in Georgia.
In 1993, Moore was one of a number of artists who filed legal claims that the record industry had cheated them out of retirement benefits. Moore and other artists sued several record companies and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Moore told The Associated Press in 1994 that he joined the legal effort after learning that despite his million-selling records, his pension amounted to only $2,285, which he could take as a lump sum or in $73 monthly payments.
“Two thousand dollars for my life?” Moore said then. “If you’re going to take profits from me, give me some too. Don’t give me cornbread and tell me it’s cookies.”
Moore also became involved in politics. He wrote the song “Dole Man,” inspired by “Soul Man,” for Republican Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign.
In 2017, he was one of the few entertainers to perform for Republican President Donald Trump’s inaugural festivities. Eight years earlier, Moore had objected when Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign used “Hang on, I’m coming.”
Moore was born on October 12, 1935 in Miami and began singing in church.
He and Prater performed in soul and R&B clubs in the 1950s, but did not meet until 1961 in Miami.
Moore helped coach Prater on the lyrics of a song and they quickly became a popular local duo. In 1965, after signing with Atlantic Records, producer Jerry Wexler sent them to the label’s Stax subsidiary in Memphis.
Moore and Prater argued often, and Moore told the AP in 2006 that the drug habit, which he quit in 1981, played a large role in the band’s problems and later caused the entertainment executives wary of giving him a fresh start.
The duo broke up in 1970 and neither had another major hit, although Moore often worked with Springsteen, whom Moore would call one of his closest friends. They performed together on stage and sang on each other’s albums, including on the high-energy duet “Real World.”
He married his wife, Joyce, in 1982, and she helped him get treatment for his addiction, which he credited with saving his life.
“I did a lot of cruises, I did a lot of old shows,” he said during those struggles, adding that he once opened for a group of Elvis impersonators.
“It’s funny to think about it now. And I did a lot of shows where if I did a show with an old show, I had to audition,” he said. “But you know what? You keep your mouth shut and you get up there and you sing as loud and you act as loud as you can and you get the little money and you go about your business and try to pay those bills. I’m laughing about it now, but at the time, man, I was so serious.”
Moore continued to record and sing. He was a frequent performer at the Kennedy Center Honors and sang for Obama among other presidents.
Moore is survived by his wife, Joyce; daughter, Michelle; and two grandchildren.