Fred Willie Hughes Jr. (August 20, 1943 – January 18, 2022) was an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, and R&B singer, perhaps best known for his 1968 song, "Send My Baby Back". Hughes was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

in 1943, and grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. As a singer, he began working professionally in vocal groups from Oakland in the mid-1950s. In his teens, he sang at the Ephesian

Church of God in Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Christian perfection#Holiness Pentecostalism, Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and a large Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi ...

in Berkeley. The song "Send My Baby Back" (released through

Wand Records Wand Records was an American independent record label, started by Florence Greenberg in 1961 as a subsidiary of Scepter Records. Artists on Wand Records included The Isley Brothers, The Kingsmen, Mel Wynn & the Rhythm Aces, Chuck Jackson, and th ...

) was written by Lonnie Hewitt and Ernest Marbray, and issued as a single in 1968, with "Where's My Baby" on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. The single appeared on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

, peaking at No. 20 that year. It also charted on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

peaking at No. 94. In 1969, "Send My Baby Back" was recorded by jazz trumpeter

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his ...

, and appeared on his album ''

The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground ''The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground'' is an album by trumpeter/bandleader Don Ellis recorded in 1969 and released on the Columbia label. Reception Scott Yanow of Allmusic says the album is "one of trumpeter Don Ellis' lesser efforts".Yano ...

''. "Send My Baby Back" was Hughes' only chart success, but he remained active and performed in numerous clubs right until his death. In early January 2022, Hughes was hospitalized with pneumonia and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He died on January 18, 2022, at age 78, from leukemia and COVID-19 complications at

Kaiser Oakland Medical Center Kaiser Oakland Medical Center is a hospital in Oakland, California. It is located at the intersection of Broadway and West MacArthur Boulevard, immediately north of Downtown. It is the flagship hospital of Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed c ...

in Oakland, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Freddie 1943 births 2022 deaths Deaths from leukemia in California Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California American gospel singers American soul singers American male singers Musicians from Berkeley, California