An American R&B and rock n' roll singer. He was perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. His high-pitched tenor voice was steeped in the gospel music he sang in much of his younger life.

He was lead tenor for Billy Ward and His Dominoes and was largely responsible for the success they enjoyed. In 1953, Ahmet Ertegun signed him to Atlantic Records on the condition that he form his own group, which he named The Drifters. After a tour of duty in the Army, he launched a solo career.

In 1972 he died in his sleep at the age of 39 from complications of heart, liver, and kidney disease. Only 39 at the time of his death, he had struggled for years with alcoholism and depression.