A n absolutely crucial figure in popular music, Sam Cooke was instrumental in developing and popularizing soul music in the late '50s and early '60s, and was arguably the first black artist to truly cross over to a white audience in America. He also wrote and performed one of the anthems of the civil rights movement in the shape of "A Change is Gonna Come", a song widely acknowledged as one of the greatest ever; alongside the likes of "You Send Me", "Cupid", "Chain Gang", "Shake", and "Wonderful World", it's one of his many songs that is still regularly heard and covered. He died in 1964, after being shot at a Los Angeles motel, but his influence on a wave of soul musicians throughout in '60s, '70s, and beyond was undiminished.
