Sam Moore, Half of Sam & Dave Duo, Dies at 89

Sam Moore, one-half of the Sam & Dave duo, died on Friday, Jan. 10. He was 89.

The celebrated R&B singer died after surgical procedure in Coral Gables, Fla., his spouse and longtime supervisor, Joyce Moor, confirmed to The New York Occasions.

Moore was born in Miami on Oct. 12, 1935. He began skilled singing within the late Nineteen Fifties when he met his future associate, Dave Prater. By 1961, they met once more on the King of Hearts membership in Miami and shortly started performing collectively as a music group. By 1964, Atlantic Information watched the 2 carry out after which provided them a contract.

All through the Sixties, they hit their stride, and the pair launched R&B hits, together with “Maintain On, I’m Comin,’ ” “I Thank You,” and “Soul Man.” The latter topped the charts and hit No. 2 on the pop charts in 1967. The observe additionally gained a Grammy for greatest rhythm & blues group efficiency, vocal or instrumental.

The 2 break up in 1970 and Moore recorded a solo album, Lots Good Lovin’, which was launched in 2002.

All through their careers, they might break up and reunite a number of occasions when their solo careers didn’t attain the success they needed.

“It was a duo,” Moore stated within the 1998 e book Sam and Dave: An Oral Historical past. “Nevertheless it wasn’t a partnership.”

The pair carried out collectively for the ultimate time on New Yr’s Eve 1981 in San Francisco, and as soon as they left the stage, they by no means spoke once more, per The New York Occasions. Across the similar time, they each struggled with a heroin habit. After assembly Joyce McRae, she ultimately turned his supervisor and urged him to take part in trials for anti-opiate remedies. By 1983, he went public along with his habit and volunteered with folks scuffling with the identical challenge.

Throughout his solo profession, Moore toured with a number of performers, together with Bruce Springsteen. In the meantime, Prater recruited a brand new associate, Sam Daniels, and so they labored collectively and known as themselves Sam & Dave, regardless of Moore’s objections. The unique duo had been inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 1992. Six years later, Prater died in a deadly automobile accident.

In 2019, the duo obtained a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2019.

Moore is survived by his spouse, Joyce, their daughter Michelle, and grandchildren Tash, and Misha.