King possesses one of the most elegant baritone voices of all time. As a lead singer of The Drifters and as a famed solo artist, King has achieved five #1 hits with “Stand By Me,” “There Goes My Baby,” “Save The Last Dance For Me” and “Supernatural Thing.” He has earned 12 Top 10 hits and 25 Top 40 hits, from 1959 to 1986 with three songs appearing on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll and four receiving a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Drifter in 1988 and has also been nominated as a solo artist. Throughout his career, King’s other well-known songs include “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied),” “Spanish Harlem” (both covered by Aretha Franklin in 1970), “Amor,” “Seven Letters,” “How Can I Forget,” “On the Horizon,” “Young Boy Blues,” “First Taste of Love,” “Here Comes the Night,” “Ecstasy,” and “That’s When It Hurts.”
King’s love for the youth of America, as well as the disadvantaged, inspired him to establish The Ben E. King Stand By Me Foundation in 1998. In 2000, King released Person To Person, a tribute album to his love of jazz and blues standards. He continues to record new music and perform live at top venues around the world.