Jerry Butler (singer)
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Jerry Butler, Jr. (born December 8, 1939 in Sunflower, Mississippi) is an American soul singer also known as "The Ice Man" because of his cool while singing often intensely emotional lyrics. The mid-1950s had a profound impact on Butler’s life. He grew up poor and Black living in Chicago’s rough and tumble Cabrini Green housing complex. Music and the church was his solace from a city that was as segregated as those in the Deep South. He performed in a church choir with Curtis Mayfield. As teens, Butler sang in a gospel quartet called Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers along with Mayfield. Mayfield, a guitar player, became the lone instrument for the six-member acappella group, which later morphed into the Impressions. Inspired by music icons Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, the Five Blind Boys and the Pilgrim Travelers, getting the music business was not their goal. At age 18, Butler penned "For Your Precious Love" and wanted to cut a record for it — not necessarily a hit record. Shopping for recording studios, they auditioned for Chess and VeeJay Records both located on famed Record Row, located on Michigan Avenue between 22nd Street and Roosevelt Road, where all the record distributors and record companies where housed. They eventually singed with VeeJay Records where they released "For Your Precious Love," in 1958, which became the Impressions' first hit to go gold. Butler was dubbed the "Iceman" by a Philadelphia disc jockey while performing in a Philadelphia theater. When the sound system went out, Butler continued singing — staying cool under pressure. However, Butler achieved what eluded many earlier Doo Wop groups during the 1950s and '60s — longevity. Butler’s solo career had a string of hits including "Brand New Me," "Ain’t Understanding Mellow," "Never Gonna Give You Up," followed by two hugely successful albums "The Iceman Cometh" in 1968 and "Ice On Ice" in 1970. "The Iceman Cometh" garnered Butler three Grammy nominations. Butler continues to perform his classic hit “For Your Precious Love,” in between his new gig as Cook County Board Commissioner, where he has served since the 1980s.
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