He was a tour warrior, and in the last few years he made appearances at numerous Ontario music festivals, including Panamania, Hamilton’s Supercrawl, and most recently, this summer’s WayHome, where he played a rousing, hits-packed set.
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In between songs, he’d preach sermons about the importance of acceptance and tolerance, and frequently end his sets in the crowd hugging adoring fans.ĭespite being diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2016, he released his third studio album Changes (named after his emotional rendition of the Black Sabbath song, which was a live staple), and appeared on an episode of Netflix Marvel series Luke Cage performing Ain’t It A Sin. He’d stretch his arms like a soaring bird of prey, gyrating and shimmying across the stage in elaborately sequinned outfits with a seemingly impossibly youthful vigour. The pained fury of his music was fully authentic and totally cynicism-free.īradley gained a well-earned reputation as a charismatic performer. Like her, Bradley’s music wasn’t “throwback” or “neo” soul.
He followed it up with 2013’s Victim Of Love, a mix of upbeat Motown-influenced anthems and lovesick ballads, and played a three-night stint at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theatre alongside Daptone labelmate Sharon Jones, who died last year. After hitchhiking across the country and moonlighting as a James Brown impersonator under the name “Black Velvet” in New York clubs, he was discovered by Daptone Records co-founder Bosco Mann and invited to rehearse with his band in 2002 (events depicted in Poull Brien’s documentary Soul Of America, which premiered at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival).īacked by the Menahan Street Band’s triumphant horns and slinky grooves, 2011’s No Time For Dreaming received rave reviews, including from NOW, with critics praising Bradley’s world-weary tales of hardship and poverty that perfectly melded with his 60s and 70s soul sound. He was 68 years old.īorn in Gainsville, Florida, Bradley moved to Brooklyn when he was eight to be with his mother, but their acrimonious relationship lead to him running away as a teenager, living on the street and sleeping on subway cars. The singer, dubbed the “Screaming Eagle of Soul” for his powerful, raspy voice, passed away Saturday from stomach cancer, according to an official statement. Most artists don’t wait until their early 60s to release their first album, but Charles Bradley wasn’t anything like most artists.
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