Half of the legendary soul duo Sam & Dave, Sam Moore was born Samuel David Hicks in Miami on October 12, 1935. He sang gospel in church and made a name for himself in the region, both on his own and with a group called The Mellonaires. Uninterested in replacing Sam Cooke in The Soul Stirrers, he was performing at the King of Hearts club when he met Dave Prater in 1961. The result was a duo, Sam & Dave, that would become one of the decade's biggest soul attractions. After debuting with Roulette Records, Moore and Prater signed with Atlantic through Jerry Wrexler in 1965, recording the hit "You Don't Know Like I Know" for the Stax label , followed by "Hold On, I'm Comin'" and other classics, which continued until 1968 on the albums Double Dynamite, Soul Men and I Thank You. However, friction led to the duo's split in 1970, and Sam Moore embarked on a solo career with an album produced by saxophonist King Curtis. However, the death of King Curtis before the end of the sessions prevented the release of the album, which was not released until 2002 under the title Plenty Good Lovin': The Lost Solo Album. Reunions with Dave Prater followed over the next two decades, until Prater's death on April 9, 1988. Earlier, in 1986, Sam Moore covered one of the duo's standards, "Soul Man", with Lou Reed, for the film of the same name. After collaborating with Bruce Springsteen in 1992, Moore signed with the Rhino label and recorded the album Overnight Sensational (2006), with a host of stars including Springsteen, Sting, Jon Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey and Vince Gill, Travis Tritt, Robert Randolph, Paul Rodgers, Billy Preston, Billy Gibbons, Zucchero, Eric Clapton, Vince Gill and Steve Winwood. He continues to tour, and in 2017 recorded the covers album American Patriot. On June 10, 2025, Sam Moore dies after an operation at the age of 89.
