Friday, May 1, 2015 9:52am ET by  
Comments (0)

, , , , , , , , , ,

'Stand By Me' sensation Ben E King dies aged 76

Legendary soul and R&B pioneer Ben E King has passed away at the age of 76, his publicist has confirmed.

King is best known for his iconic song 'Stand By Me', which was a Top 5 hit for him back in 1961, and he began his career in music in the late Fifties, appearing with The Drifters before he went solo on the tracks 'Save The Last Dance For Me' and 'There Goes My Baby'.  

Referring to how 'Stand By Me' came to be, Ben E King explained to the BBC in a 2011 interview that it was initially turned down: "It was one of those magic things and I just did it. We had no interest, really, to record the song. It was written for The Drifters, but they refused it so I decided to do it myself."

"The manager turned it down. They were fine with it... I'd rehearsed it with them and they loved it... they did it for the managers and they said, 'it's not a bad song, but we don't need it' so I took it and walked off."

Follow us: @Pressparty on Twitter Pressparty on Facebook

Watch King performing the song below: