Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in s ...

the Impressions The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul. The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur B ...

, inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

in 1991. After leaving the group in 1960, Butler achieved over 55 ''Billboard'' Pop and R&B Chart hits as a solo artist including " He Will Break Your Heart", " Let It Be Me" and " Only the Strong Survive". He was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2015. He served as a Commissioner for

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

, from 1985 to 2018. As a member of this 17-member county board, he chaired the Health and Hospitals Committee and served as Vice Chair of the Construction Committee.

Biography

Early life

Butler was born in

Sunflower, Mississippi Sunflower is a town in Sunflower County, Mississippi. The population was 1,159 at the 2010 census. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 964 people, 424 households, and 278 families residing in the town. 200 ...

, United States, in 1939. When Butler was three years old, the family moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, and he grew up in the Cabrini-Green housing projects. The mid-1950s had a profound effect on Butler's life. He performed in a

church choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

with

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

. As a teenager, Butler sang in a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

quartet called Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers, along with Mayfield. Mayfield, a guitar player, became the lone instrumentalist for the six-member Roosters group, which later became The Impressions. Inspired by Sam Cooke and the

Soul Stirrers The Soul Stirrers were an American gospel music group, whose career spans over eighty years. The group was a pioneer in the development of the quartet style of gospel, and a major influence on soul, doo wop, and Motown, some of the secular mus ...

, the

Five Blind Boys of Mississippi The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi was an American post-war gospel quartet. They started with lead singer Archie Brownlee, their single "Our Father" reached number ten on the Billboard R&B charts in early 1951. Then the screams of their new lead ...

, and the

Pilgrim Travelers The Pilgrim Travelers were an American gospel group, popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Musical career Formed in 1936 in Houston, Texas, United States, they were influenced by another Texas-based quartet, the Soul Stirrers. They achiev ...

, getting into the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, trai ...

seemed inevitable. Butler's younger brother, Billy Butler, also had a career in the music industry, including playing guitar with Jerry's band, until his death in 2015.

Early recordings

Butler co-wrote the song " For Your Precious Love" (which is ranked No. 327 on the ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' magazine's list of

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

) and wanted to

record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

a disc. Looking for recording studios,

(the original members of which were Butler,

Sam Gooden Samuel Gooden (September 2, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American soul singer. He was best known for being an original member of the successful 1991 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted R&B group The Impressions, from its beginnings as The R ...

Fred Cash Fred Cash (born October 8, 1940) is an American soul singer. He was a member of The Impressions, a group in which he replaced Jerry Butler in 1960. As one of the group's longest-serving members, he is also a 1991 inductee into the Rock and Ro ...

- who left early on, and later returned - and brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks), auditioned for

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and r ...

and

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

. The group eventually signed with Vee-Jay, where they released "For Your Precious Love" in 1958. It became The Impressions' first hit and

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

Solo career

Butler was dubbed the "Iceman" by WDAS

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

disc jockey, Georgie Woods, while performing in a Philadelphia theater. He released as a single "He Will Break Your Heart" in 1960, and the song peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard pop chart. Butler's co-wrote, with

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blue ...

, the song " I've Been Loving You Too Long" in 1965. Butler's solo career had a string of hits, including the

Top 10 A top ten list is a list of the ten highest-ranking items of a given category. Top Ten or Top 10 may also refer to: Media *Top 10, a common record chart for the ten most popular songs of the week in the musical chart of a country *''America's Top ...

successes " He Will Break Your Heart", "Find Another Girl", "I'm A-Telling You" (all written by fellow Impression Curtis Mayfield and featuring Mayfield as harmony vocal), the million selling " Only the Strong Survive", "

Moon River "Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song also won th ...

", "Need To Belong" (recorded with the Impressions after he went solo), " Make It Easy on Yourself", " Let It Be Me" (with

Betty Everett Betty Jean Everett (November 23, 1939 – August 19, 2001) was an American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling " Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", and her duet " Let It Be Me" with Jerry But ...

), "Brand New Me", "

Ain't Understanding Mellow "Ain't Understanding Mellow" is a song written by Homer Talbert and Herscholt Polk and performed by Jerry Butler and Brenda Lee Eager. The song was arranged by James Mack and produced by Gerald Sims and Jerry Butler. It was featured on Butler's ...

" (with

Brenda Lee Eager Brenda Lee Eager (born August 8, 1947) is an American soul singer, songwriter and musical theatre performer who has written and performed several hits, including " Ain't Understanding Mellow", " Close to You", and " Somebody's Somebody". Life and ...

), "

Hey, Western Union Man "Hey, Western Union Man" is a 1968 soul single by Jerry Butler written by Butler with Kenny Gamble, and Leon Huff. The single was Jerry Butler's second number one R&B hit on the ''Billboard'' chart, where it stayed for a week. "Hey, Western Unio ...

", and " Never Give You Up". His 1969 "Moody Woman" release became a Northern Soul favourite and featured at number 369 in the Northern Soul Top 500. Butler released two successful albums, '' The Ice Man Cometh'' (1968) and ''Ice on Ice'' (1969). He collaborated on many of his successful recordings with the Philadelphia-based songwriting team

Gamble and Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

. With Motown, in 1976 and 1977, Butler produced and co-produced (with Paul David Wilson) two albums: ''Suite for the Single Girl'' and ''It All Comes Out in My Song''.

Tony Orlando and Dawn Tony Orlando and Dawn is an American pop music group that was popular in the 1970s, composed of singer Tony Orlando and the backing vocal group Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson). Their signature hits include " Candida", "Knock Three ...

revived "He Will Break Your Heart" in 1975, with a new title, "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)", and it was more successful than Butler's original (#7), going to number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Subsequently, Butler and P.D. Wilson produced an album with Dee Dee Sharp-Gamble on Philadelphia International Records. In 1981, "Breaking and Entering" / "Easy Money" was released from Sharp-Gamble's album ''Dee Dee''.

1980s–2018

Butler continued to perform while serving as a Cook County Board Commissioner before retiring from public office in 2018. As Cook County Commissioner, Butler voted to uphold a historic 2008 Cook County sales tax increase, which remains the highest in the nation. As a result, the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' encouraged people to vote against him in the 2010 elections. Butler, however, won reelection in March 2014 with over 80 percent of the vote. In recent years, he has served as host of

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

TV music specials such as ''Doo Wop 50'' and ''51'', ''Rock Rhythm and Doo Wop'', and ''Soul Spectacular: 40 years of R&B'', among others. He has also served as chairman of the board of the

Rhythm and Blues Foundation The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music. The idea for the foundation came in 1987 during discussions about royalties with ...

. In 1991, Butler was inducted, along with the other original members of the Impressions (Curtis Mayfield,

, and

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

and Richard Brooks), into the

. Butler released '' Time & Faith'' in 1992.

The Hives The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album '' Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single " Hate to Say I Told You So ...

covered "Find Another Girl" on their 2000 album ''

Veni Vidi Vicious ''Veni Vidi Vicious'' is the second studio album by Swedish rock band the Hives. The album was released on 10 April 2000 through Burning Heart and Epitaph. It was later re-released on 30 April 2002 through Sire and Gearhead. The Japanese rele ...

''.

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing thei ...

covered " Never Give You Up" on their 2010 album, '' Brothers''.

Personal life

He currently resides in Chicago. His wife Annette, originally one of his backup singers, died in 2019. Since his 1991 induction into the

as a member of the Impressions, music writers and critics have stated that Butler also deserves a second induction as a ''solo'' artist, based upon his successful career as a recording artist and songwriter after leaving that group.

Discography

Singles

References

Bibliography

*Pruter, Robert. ''Chicago Soul''. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1991,

External links

Mississippi musicians: Jerry Butler.
Erica Covin
Jerry Butler Biography on VH1.com

Jerry Butler on Philly Soul Classics

"The History Makers: Jerry Butler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Jerry 1939 births Living people People from Sunflower, Mississippi African-American people in Illinois politics 20th-century African-American male singers American soul musicians Mercury Records artists Singers from Chicago Singers from Mississippi Philadelphia International Records artists Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners The Impressions members Vee-Jay Records artists American baritones Alligator Records artists