Roy Hamilton

Roy Hamilton
Hamilton in 1957
Hamilton in 1957
Background information
Birth nameRodothas Hamilton
Born(1929-04-16)April 16, 1929
Leesburg, Georgia, United States
DiedJuly 20, 1969(1969-07-20) (aged 40)
New Rochelle, New York, United States
GenresTraditional pop, show tunes, swing, vocal jazz, R&B, soul
OccupationSinger
InstrumentVocals
Years active1947–1969
LabelsEpic, MGM, RCA
Websiteroyhamilton.net

Roy Hamilton (April 16, 1929 – July 20, 1969)[1] was an American singer. By combining semi-classical technique with traditional black gospel feeling, he brought soul to Great American Songbook singing.[2]

Hamilton's greatest commercial success came from 1954 through 1961, when he was Epic Records' most prolific artist.[3] His two most influential recordings, "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Unchained Melody", became Epic's first two number-one hits when they topped the Billboard R&B chart in March 1954 and May 1955, respectively.[1][4] Hamilton became the first solo artist in the label's history to have a US top-ten pop hit when "Unchained Melody" peaked at No. 6 in May 1955.[4]

  1. ^ a b Doc Rock. "The 1960s". The Dead Rock Stars Club. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  2. ^ Gilliland, John. "Show 3 – The Tribal Drum: The rise of rhythm and blues. [Part 1] – All TracksDigital Library". Digital.library.unt.edu. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  3. ^ Dawson, Jim & Propes, Steve (2003). 45 RPM: The History, Heroes & Villains of a Pop Music Revolution (1st ed.). San Francisco : Backbeat Books. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8793-0757-8
  4. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 181.