Don Bryant, a rhythm and blues songwriter and singer, has died aged 83.
The musician’s death was announced by his family on Boxing Day.
Sharing a photo of him on Instagram, they shared: ‘We want to let all of Don Bryant’s friends and fans from all over the world know that he passed away this morning at the age of 83.
‘Don loved sharing his music and songs with all of you and it gave him such great joy to perform and record new music.
‘He was so appreciative of everyone who was part of his musical journey and who supported him along the way.’
Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942, Bryant began singing in church aged five before joining his father’s family vocal group.
He then went on to form a gospel quartet for a high school radio show, rising to fame singing secular pop songs on Dick ‘Cane’ Cole’s popular WLOK show. The group, who performed as The Four Kings, would later become the front band for Willie Mitchell, with Bryant as the lead singer.
When still just a teenager, Bryant was given an opportunity at songwriting, penning the track I Got To Know for The 5 Royales.
He then wrote songs for other artists at Hi Records whilst also continuing to work with The Four Kings and then as a solo artist, with his debut album Precious Soul being released in 1969.
However, his main focus at this point was songwriting, with Bryant being credited with over 150 titles.
He wrote tracks that were eventually cut by Solomon Burke, Etta James, Otis Clay, and Albert King.
Some of his most notable songs included 99 Pounds and Do I Need You for Ann Peebles, with whom he also co-wrote I Can’t Stand the Rain, a song that was released in 1973 and also made the Top 40 charts – peaking at Number 38.
It would later go on to be covered and sampled by artists including Tina Turner, Seal, Missy Elliott, and Kaytranada.
Bryant previously spoke about how Peebles inspired the track. ‘At the time, there were a lot of records about the rain, but everyone was wanting the rain, trying to hide their tears,’ he told Rolling Stone.
The pair went on to marry the following year, with Bryant then spending most of the next decade writing and opening for her. His final song for Hi, a duet with his wife called Mon Belle-Amour, was released in 1981.
Over the next two decades he then mainly focused on creating gospel albums, before he stopped performing altogether outside of church services.
However, in 2017 he made his return to the stage, working as a vocalist with Memphis-based soul band The Bo-Keys.
He also returned to the studio with them, recording Don’t Give Up on Love, an album which featured both new material and some of his past hits. It marked his first album in nearly 50 years.
Three years later they also collaborated again on the album You Make Me Feel, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
In 2020 Bryant told Rolling Stone that music was ‘one of my greatest loves’. ‘When I can concentrate on that, I can take my mind off everything else,’ he said.
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