Jerry Butler, a renowned soul singer from the 1960s and beyond, known for his deep, warm baritone voice in hits like “For Your Precious Love,” “Only the Strong Survive” and “Make It Easy On Yourself,” has passed away at the age of 85. Butler’s niece, Yolanda Goff, confirmed that the singer succumbed to Parkinson’s disease at his residence in Chicago. Butler, a lifelong Chicagoan, was also a former Cook County board commissioner. Despite his political career, he continued to perform on weekends under his stage name, Jerry “Ice Man” Butler, a moniker reflecting his cool, understated style.
Butler, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a three-time Grammy Award nominee, was a significant figure in two major soul music centers: Chicago and Philadelphia. Alongside his childhood friend Curtis Mayfield, Butler co-founded the Chicago-based group, the Impressions. He was the lead vocalist on the breakthrough hit “For Your Precious Love,” a deeply moving, gospel-influenced ballad that catapulted Butler to stardom before he turned 20. In the late 1960s, he collaborated with the Philadelphia-based production duo of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, producing hits like “Only the Strong Survive,” “Hey Western Union Man,” and others. His albums “Ice on Ice” and “The Ice Man Cometh” are considered early templates for the danceable, string-driven productions that defined the classic “Sound of Philadelphia.”
In addition to his singing career, Butler was a gifted songwriter. He co-wrote “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” a signature ballad for Otis Redding, and “Only the Strong Survive,” which was later covered by Elvis Presley, among others. His other songwriting credits include “For Your Precious Love,” “Never Give You Up” (with Gamble and Huff), and “He Will Break Your Heart,” a song inspired by the relationships of the groupies he encountered on tour.
Born to Mississippi sharecroppers, Butler and his family relocated to Chicago when he was three, joining the “Great Migration” of Black people moving north from the South. His love for music began in childhood, and his talent was evident enough that a friend suggested he join the Traveling Souls Spiritualist Church, where he met Curtis Mayfield, who would become a lifelong collaborator. In 1958, Mayfield and Butler, along with Sam Gooden and brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks, recorded “For Your Precious Love” for Vee-Jay Records under the name the Impressions. However, Vee-Jay promoted the song as by Jerry Butler and the Impressions, leading to a rift between Butler and the other members and inadvertently launching his solo career.
By 1967, Butler’s traditional style seemed outdated, but he was captivated by the emerging music from Philadelphia and secured permission from his record label, Mercury, to collaborate with Gamble and Huff. The partnership was so successful that they wrote hits like “Only the Strong Survive” in under an hour.
In the 1980s, as Butler’s music career waned, he developed an interest in politics. Inspired by the 1983 election of Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor, he successfully ran for the Cook County Board in 1985 and was re-elected multiple times, even after backing a contentious sales tax increase in 2009. He retired from the board in 2018.
Butler was married to Annette Smith for 60 years until her death in 2019, and they had twin sons. He was known for his efforts to assist his peers who had financial difficulties, as well as supporting various family members. He chaired the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which provides a wide range of assistance to musicians, and advocated for the industry to offer medical and retirement benefits.