Solomon Burke

Redemption came late for Burke. His comeback began with his long overdue induction into the Rock Hall in 2001. Burke's problem was that he was always compared to the Soul icons of the 60's: Otis, Wilson, Sam, Jackie, etc. And on that level he didn't always reach them, but many Soul fans (like me) never forgot, so it was good to see him reaching critical acclaim with the albums he put out in the last decade.

He was just enjoying all this new found attention when he died at age 70. These types of deaths by our R&B icons always saddens me. There aren't many left from the Golden Era of Soul. Solomon Burke, fittingly, was one of the last ones standing.