King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson on Sept. 28, 1938 in Henderson, North Carolina and grew up in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. He rose to fame in the 1950s as a member of The Drifters, recording popular tracks such as “There Goes My Baby” and “Save The Last Dance For Me,” and also embarked on a solo career, releasing hits such as “Spanish Harlem” and later, “Stand By Me,” the song that made him famous.
“Stand By Me” was featured in the soundtrack of an iconic coming-of-age 1986 film of the same name, which starred Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland and the late River Phoenix. He and Wheaton starred in a music video for the song and the movie, which was featured on the DVD.
“I only met Ben E. King once, when we did the music video for Stand By Me,” Wheaton tweeted on Friday. “He was a kind and gentle man. May he rest in peace.”
The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Earlier this year, the U.S. Library of Congress added the iconic song to the National Recording Registry.
“Stand By Me” has been covered, professionally and non-professionally, by the likes of John Lennon, Imagine Dragons, Bono and even Thor actor Tom Hiddleston.