Stand by Me singer Ben E. King dies

— Ben E. King, the lead singer for the Drifters and a solo star whose plaintive baritone graced such pop and rhythm ’n’ blues classics as Stand by Me, There Goes My Baby, This Magic Moment and Spanish Harlem, has died.

King died April 30 at age 76, publicist Phil Brown said. Brown did not immediately have other details, but King was known to have coronary health issues in his later life.

Born in North Carolina, King was singing with the Five Crowns when he and his fellow band members were hired to become the new incarnation of the Drifters, who had several doo-wop hits in the 1950s featuring tenor Clyde McPhatter.

King co-wrote and sang lead on There Goes My Baby and he and the Drifters followed with such hits as Save the Last Dance for Me and This Magic Moment.

King’s time with the Drifters was brief. He left in the early ’60s because of a contract dispute.

He broke through on his own with Spanish Harlem, co-written by Phil Spector and Jerry Leiber, and sealed his name in music history with Stand by Me.

Co-written by Leiber and Mike Stoller, Stand by Me was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America and added earlier this year to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

John Lennon covered it in the 1970s and Stand by Me found new listeners in the ’80s when it was featured in the Rob Reiner movie of the same name.

King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson on Sept. 28, 1938 in Henderson, N.C., moved to New York City at age nine and by 20 was singing with the Five Crowns. He changed his name to Ben E. King after becoming a solo performer.