ON THIS DATE (15 YEARS AGO) December 26, 1999 - Curtis Mayfield (b. June 3, 1942) died at age 57. Curtis Lee Mayfield was a soul, R&B, and funk singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He achieved success and recognition with the Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and 1960s. Mayfield is also known for his efforts in writing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly which was considered unusual as a soundtrack for a blaxploitation film, as its songs contained themes focusing more on the social problems of impoverished African-American urban areas during the time. Mayfield is regarded as a pioneer of funk and of politically conscious African-American music. Being one of the most celebrated figures in the genre of soul and 20th-century music, Mayfield is a winner of both the Grammy Legend Award (in 1994) and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (in 1995), and he was a double inductee into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted as a member of the Impressions into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He is also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 16:30:01 +0000
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