Solomon Burke was the King of Rock and Soul -- a three-hundred-pound preacher in a velvet cape and a crown, seated on a throne onstage, who could make a grown man weep with a ballad and then turn around and testify with a fury that shook the rafters. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, covered by the Rolling Stones and the Blues Brothers, was just the beginning.

He was a child preacher in Philadelphia -- 'the Boy Wonder Preacher' -- and he brought the church with him when he crossed over to r&b. His Atlantic Records sides in the 1960s defined the sound of soul music before anyone called it that: Cry to Me, Just Out of Reach, Down in the Valley. He ran a funeral home. He sold popcorn at his shows. He was the most theatrical figure in soul, and he meant every word of it.

In 2002, at 62, he made Don't Give Up on Me -- an album of songs written for him by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Tom Waits, and Elvis Costello. It won a Grammy. The King of Rock and Soul, seated on his throne, proved he still had the power to stop a room on a dime.

Solomon Burke was the King of Rock and Soul -- a preacher in a velvet cape and a crown. He seated himself on a throne onstage and made you believe. Cry to Me. Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.