Jerry Butler, the original lead singer of the Impressions who later embarked on a successful career as a solo artist and a Chicago politician, has passed away. He was 85.
The cause of his demise has not been disclosed yet, although he had suffered from Parkinson's disease, Variety reported, citing information from Chicago Sun Times. He is survived by his sons Randy and Anthony.
Alongside singer-guitarist Curtis Mayfield, with whom he had sung in the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers, 19-year-old Butler broke onto the charts in 1958 with the doo-wop-inflected ballad "For Your Precious Love," by the act initially billed as Jerry Butler and the Impressions.
Following one more top-30 single with the group, Butler broke away on his own. His first solo hit, "He Will Break Your Heart," co-written with Mayfield (with whom he continued to work following his split with the group) and Vee-Jay Records exec Calvin Carter, spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the national R&B charts and reached No. 7 on the U.S. pop charts in 1960, as per Variety.
By the early '80s, Butler was running a Chicago beer distributorship, but his interest turned to politics after Harold Washington was elected as the city's first Black mayor in 1983. Chicago alderman (and former Black Panther Party officer) Bobby Rush encouraged him to run for the Cook County Board of Commissioners. Elected in 1986, he held the post until his retirement in 2018, as per Variety
Approached by the Chicago Reader's Ted Cox in 2011 to discuss a profile that would focus on his singing career, Butler replied drily, "Music, huh? Thought I'd covered that up."
Not entirely: In 1991, Jerry Butler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Impressions.
Butler's wife Annette, to whom he was married for 60 years, died at 81 in 2019; she had worked as his backup singer before they were wed.
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