Ben E. King

Ben E. King, born Benjamin Earl Nelson, was an American R&B and soul singer who became one of the genre's most enduring voices. He got his start singing doo-wop before joining The Five Crowns, a group recruited by manager George Treadwell to become the new lineup of The Drifters, giving that group its first run of major hits.

After a pay dispute with Treadwell, King left to launch a solo career in 1960 and quickly proved himself a hitmaker with songs like «Spanish Harlem» and «I (Who Have Nothing)». His signature moment came with «Stand By Me», co-written with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, built on a simple, aching bassline and gospel-inflected vocal delivery that turned it into one of the most performed and covered songs in popular music history.

As the British Invasion shifted the charts in the mid-1960s, King's commercial fortunes cooled, though he continued releasing records and returned to the top of the charts once more with «Supernatural Thing» in the 1970s. He later rejoined The Drifters for a stretch in the 1980s, and the 1986 film «Stand By Me» introduced his defining song to a new generation, cementing his legacy as a foundational voice of American soul and R&B.