He was only 33 when his life was taken from him in 1964. But in those three decades, Sam Cooke managed to get a lot accomplished. In essence, he was a soul music pioneer, but he was also an inspired songwriter, a savvy businessman and persistent Civil Rights leader. For Cooke, being a star was the easy part; changing the world was what he truly wanted. And that was what took a toll on him. Some even say it was the reason he lost his life.
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As the song goes, Cooke was born “by a river, in a little tent,” but the rest of his life’s biography has lots of missing pieces. How did he go from a tent by the river to the floor of a Los Angeles motel? With opposing theories on why and how his life was taken, you can ultimately be the judge.
This is the brief life and mysterious death of Sam Cooke.