Bobby Womack, the writer behind Rolling Stones' "It's All Over Now" died Friday, at the age of 70, his record label confirmed.
Bobby Womack spanned the American soul music era, touring as a gospel singer in the 1950s, playing guitar in Sam Cooke's backup band in the early '60s, writing hit songs recorded by Wilson Pickett and the Rolling Stones and composing music that broke into the pop charts.
Sonya Kolowrat, Womack's publicist at XL Recordings confirmed that the soul singer died Friday night, at the age of 70. While the cause of his death is unknown, he had battled colon cancer and was diagnosed with early-stage Alzeheimer's last year. Kolowrat said that details of the singer's death will be revealed later, according to an Huffington Post report.
Womack was known to many as the "Preacher" for his authoritative, church-trained voice. Despite being loved by many, he never had the million-record success of contemporaries like Pickett, Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Otis Redding. However, pop stars of his time had great admiration for him. His fans included singers like Keith Richards, Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder, all of whom acknowledged their debt with guest performances on albums he made in his later years.
Born Robert Dwayne Womack on March 4, 1944, in Cleveland, Womack began his career singing with his four brothers - Curtis, Harry, Cecil and Friendly Jr. - on the gospel circuit in the mid- to late 1950s, initially known as the Womack Brothers. Womack was 10 years old when he started making records with his family. The Womack Brothers were discovered by Sam Cooke in 1956, who dubbed them The Valentinos. Shortly after Cooke was shot and killed in Los Angeles in 1964, Womack married his widow, Barbara, considered a scandal by some in the music business. (They divorced in 1970.) But his credits and influence also started spanning soul and pop, and Womack, who increasingly brought a funky step to his guitar work, worked alongside Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Ray Charles and others.
Many of his songs were recorded by others, often with greater success than his own renditions. Janis Joplin included "Trust Me" on her album "Pearl," the J. Geils Band recorded "Lookin' for a Love," which reached the Top 40 in 1972, and Pickett recorded "I'm a Midnight Mover" and 16 other Womack songs.
In 2009, Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
