Jerry Butler, the decorated soul singer who became a senior politician in his adopted home state of Illinois, died at his Chicago home on February 20, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, citing a family friend. No cause of death was given, but Butler had been living with Parkinson’s disease. He was 85 years old.
Born in Mississippi to sharecropper parents and raised in Chicago, Butler brought his church choir vocals to an early iteration of the Impressions after meeting Curtis Mayfield in the mid-1950s. During his three-year tenure, they scored a 1958 hit with the Butler-penned “For Your Precious Love,” before Butler amicably departed to embark on a solo career.
Though he initially struggled to replicate his first flush of success, Butler struck R&B gold upon partnering with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, architects of the Philly soul sound. In 1962, his classic album The Ice Man Cometh produced enduring hits “Only the Strong Survive” and “Never Give You Up,” songs equally beloved by armchair soul aficionados and nightclub DJs as Philly soul morphed into disco in the 1970s. His greatest financial success, however, came from “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” a song he composed for Otis Redding that was covered by a swath of music legends ranging from Aretha Franklin and Etta James to Jason Isbell, Cat Power, and the Rolling Stones.
After a musical dry spell in the 1970s, Butler began his political career, ascending to board commissioner of Cook County, Illinois, in 1994. In the meantime, plaudits for his music career kept rolling in. With the Impressions, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991; as a solo artist, he entered the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2015 and received its lifetime achievement award in 2023.
In tribute, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Smokey Robinson called Butler “one of the great voices of our time,” adding, “He’s a great person, and I love him.”
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff said, in a joint statement cited by Rolling Stone, “We deeply and sincerely mourn the loss of our dear and longtime friend the great Jerry Butler aka ‘The Iceman’ for his cool, smooth vocals and demeanor. He was a one of a kind music legend!”
