Singer, writer of ’70s soul hit ‘What You Won’t Do For Love’
INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Bobby Caldwell, a singer of R&B, soul, adult contemporary and American standard music who had a major hit in 1978 with “What You Won’t Do For Love,” has died.
Mr. Caldwell’s wife Mary Caldwell announced his death on Twitter, writing that he died at their home in Great Meadows, New Jersey, on Tuesday. He was 71.
“Bobby passed away here at home. I held him tight in my arms as he left us. I am forever heartbroken. Thanks to all of you for your many prayers over the years,” she wrote.
She said her husband had been struggling with health issues for the past six years after being “floxed,” a condition that arises after an adverse effect from consuming a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, according to treatment center Regenerative Medicine LA.
“What You Won’t Do For Love” went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a long-term soul standard and career-defining hit for Mr. Caldwell, who also wrote the song.
The song was covered by artists including Boyz II Men and Michael Bolton and was sampled by Tupac Shakur on his posthumously released song “Do For Love.”
Other Caldwell songs were sampled by hip-hop artists including The Notorious B.I.G., Lil Nas X and Chance the Rapper.
Born in New York and raised in Miami, Mr. Caldwell got his professional break playing guitar in Little Richard’s band in the early 1970s.
His debut album cover featured a silhouette of a man observing a sunset, not revealing his face. In a 2005 interview with NPR, the “blue-eyed soul” singer said the cover was the label’s choice so that his race wasn’t identified in the R&B market.
“I was on a label that was located in Miami, Florida. It was TK Records. And their base to launch their product was basically an R&B format,” Caldwell said. “So they really didn’t want it to be well-known that I was white. Today, as we speak, there are still a few holdovers that don’t know that.”
He told the national public radio station that the label’s efforts to hide his identity quickly faded when he went on tour with Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole’s daughter.
“Caldwell was the closing chapter in a generation in which record execs wanted
to hide faces on album covers so perhaps maybe their artist could have a chance,” Questlove said on Instagram late Wednesday. “Thank you for your voice and gift #BobbyCaldwell.”
Chance the Rapper shared a screenshot on Instagram of a direct message exchange he had with Mr. Caldwell last year when he asked to use his music.
“I’ll be honored if you sample my song,” Mr. Caldwell wrote.
“You are such an inspiration to me and many others,” Chance told him. He said in the post that he had never been thanked for sampling a song before and has “not felt broken like this at a stranger’s passing in so long.”
Mr. Caldwell’s signature voice transcended genres of jazz, R&B and rock. “Open Your Eyes,” off his sophomore 1980 “Cat in the Hat” album became a sample for the chorus on Common’s hit song “The Light,” off the latter’s 2000 album “Like Water for
Chocolate.” John Legend also covered the song on his 2013 album “Love in the Future.”
Mr. Caldwell was a prolific writer whose compositions became big hits for other artists, too, including Boz Scaggs’ “Heart of Mine” (1988), Chicago’s “What Kind of Man Would I Be” (1988) and “Next Time I Fall,” the chart-topping duet for Amy Grant and Peter Cetera in 1986.
“I’ve never had this mentality that only I could sing my material,” Mr. Caldwell told the Sun-Times in a 1992 interview. “It’s challenging to be as well-rounded an artist as I possibly can be, and I think it’s also healthy for a musician to occasionally separate himself from what he writes, and one way of doing that is to write for other people.”
In addition to Mary, his wife of 19 years, Mr. Caldwell is survived by daughters Lauren and Tessa and stepdaughter Katie.