R&B singer, and member of the doo wop group the Drifters, Ben E. King passed away Thursday at the age of 76. The Drifters had several hits during King’s time – “There Goes My Baby”, “Dance With Me”, “This Magic Moment”, and “Save the Last Dance For Me.”
King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Drifters, but one of his biggest hits came from his solo career in 1961’s “Stand By Me,” which reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 again in 1986 when it was reissued as the namesake of the movie.
That song has been covered by many over the years – John Lennon, Otis Redding, and most recently Tracy Chapman who performed it earlier this month on “The Late Show with David Letterman” but no one does it better than the original for me. -Mandi@1063RL