Well known in the fifties and sixties, he is the author of hits like Stagger Lee, Lawdy Miss Clawdy and Personality.
Rhythm and blues singer Lloyd Price, rock pioneer in the fifties with hits like Stagger Lee, Lawdy Miss Clawdy and Personality, died at the age of 88 from “complications from diabetes,” his manager told CNN.
Introduced to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, he had met with immense success with his first recording, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, in 1952. A title subsequently taken up with as much success by Elvis Presley.
Very famous in the fifties and sixties, the singer was nicknamed “Mr. Personality”, in reference to another of his hits, Personality.
Owner of radio stations and labels
His most famous piece, Stagger Lee, released in 1958, is arguably one of the most important titles in the history of American music. The singer exposes the real life of the African-American ghettos there, imposing a new subject on the radio, which will inspire in the following decades many artists of rock and rap.
Lloyd Price diversified his activities in the 1960s and 1970s. He founded several music labels and began organizing concerts. He also became the owner of radios, and set up boxing matches.
“Lloyd Price is a man who did everything at a time when what we called” black records “were not supposed to break into the mainstream”, summed up singer Tony Rich when he entered Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the 1990s.
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