# Sam Moore
**Sam Moore** (Samuel [David Hicks](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-hicks); born 12 October 1935, died 10 January 2025) was an American soul singer best known as the higher-voiced half of the 1960s duo [Sam & Dave](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-and-dave), whose hits for [Stax Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/stax-records) include "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Comin'". Born in Miami, Florida, he sang gospel in church before forming the duo with Dave Prater (1937–1988) in 1961; after Prater's death he continued as a solo performer into his eighties.[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel David Hicks; took the surname Moore from his stepfather, Charlie Moore[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary) |
| Born / died | 12 October 1935, Miami, Florida; 10 January 2025, Coral Gables, Florida, age 89[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary) |
| Voice | High tenor, the lead and upper part in the duo; Prater sang the gritty baritone responses[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) • [3](https://rbhalloffamemarksms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2018-RB-HOF-Induction-Cereomy-Program.pdf) |
| Signature songs | "Soul Man" (1967, No. 1 R&B, No. 2 pop, Grammy winner 1968), "Hold On, I'm Comin'" (1966), "I Thank You" (1968), "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" (1967)[4](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary) |
| Producers | Isaac Hayes and David Porter wrote and produced most of the hits, with the house band Booker T. & the MG's[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) |
| Honors | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (1992, with Prater); "Soul Man" added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2019[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) • [4](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/) |
| Solo albums | *Plenty Good Lovin'* (recorded around 1970, released 2002); *Overnight Sensational* (2006)[5](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-moore-mn0000289930) |
## Early life
Sam Moore was born in Miami, the son of Louise Robinson, a teacher, and John Richard Hicks, whom he described as a "street hustler"; he was raised mostly by his mother in the Overtown district and took his stepfather's surname, Moore.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary) He attended [Phillis Wheatley](https://www.edgepedia.org/phillis-wheatley) and [Paul Laurence Dunbar](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-laurence-dunbar) elementary schools and graduated from Overtown's Booker T. Washington senior high in 1955; at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale he briefly took saxophone lessons from the band director there, [Cannonball Adderley](https://www.edgepedia.org/cannonball-adderley).[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary) He sang gospel in the church choir and joined the gospel groups The Majestics, The Gales, and The Mellonaires before moving onto Florida's R&B club circuit.[6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/) • [5](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-moore-mn0000289930)
## Formation of Sam & Dave
**The King of Hearts meeting.** In 1961 Moore was hosting an amateur-night contest at the King of Hearts club in Miami when Dave Prater, a Georgia-born gospel singer newly arrived with the Sensational Hummingbirds, sang a [Jackie Wilson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackie-wilson) song and lost the lyrics. Moore coached him through "Doggin' Around" on stage, the impromptu call-and-response performance thrilled the audience, and the two became a duo.[6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/) • [7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam--dave-p5344) Their live act, built on gospel-inspired call and response, made them a popular local Miami act, and a handful of singles on [Roulette Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/roulette-records) and other labels found only regional success.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam--dave-p5344) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary)
In 1965 [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records) signed them, and executive [Jerry Wexler](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-wexler), judging their Southern sound a fit for the Memphis label Stax that Atlantic distributed, sent them there on loan.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam--dave-p5344) • [4](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/)
## The Stax years
At Stax the duo worked with the songwriting and production team of [Isaac Hayes](https://www.edgepedia.org/isaac-hayes) and David Porter and the house band Booker T. & the MG's, with the Mar-Keys horns. Producer Porter pushed them to abandon their polished models and, in Moore's recollection, stop "trying to compete with Motown."[6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/) The pairing produced a run of hits: "You Don't Know Like I Know" (1966), "Hold On, I'm Comin'" (1966, their first No. 1 R&B single), "You Got Me Hummin'" (1966), "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" (1967), "Soul Man" (1967), and "I Thank You" (1968).[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam--dave-p5344) • [4](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/) The typical format placed Moore on the lead of the first verse with Prater responding on the second.[6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/)
During these years Sam & Dave ranked second only to [Otis Redding](https://www.edgepedia.org/otis-redding) among Stax's stars, played an average of 280 shows a year between 1967 and 1969, and in December 1968 became the first Black soul act to headline the Fillmore East in New York.[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) • [6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/) • [4](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/)
**"Soul Man".** Written by Hayes and Porter in the summer of 1967, the song drew on coverage of Detroit's 12th Street Riot; Hayes recalled that buildings tagged "soul" to mark Black-owned businesses were left intact, and described the song as a story about one's struggle to rise above present conditions.[4](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/) It topped the R&B chart, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, won the duo a Grammy in 1968, and in 2019 was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.[4](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary)
The partnership ended as a business matter in 1968, when Stax's distribution deal with Atlantic dissolved; the duo, contracted to Atlantic, lost access to Hayes, Porter, and the MG's, and their later records declined in quality.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam--dave-p5344) Moore and Prater split in June 1970 when Moore chose to pursue a solo career, reunited about a year later, and worked largely as a live act thereafter.[6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/)
## Solo career and later decades
Moore's first solo project, an album produced by the arranger and saxophonist [King Curtis](https://www.edgepedia.org/king-curtis), was shelved after Curtis was fatally stabbed; it was finally released in 2002 as *Plenty Good Lovin'*.[5](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-moore-mn0000289930) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary) The duo's fortunes revived in 1979 through the Blues Brothers characters of [Dan Aykroyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-aykroyd) and [John Belushi](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-belushi), whose cover of "Soul Man" was a hit; Moore had mixed feelings about the association, noting that young listeners sometimes believed the song originated with the Blues Brothers.[6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/) • [1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) The duo performed together for the last time at a New Year's Eve show in San Francisco in 1981, after which, by Moore's account, the two never spoke again.[6](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/)
**Later work.** Moore married Joyce McRae in 1982; she became his manager and helped him into treatment for the drug habit he had kicked in 1981, which he credited with saving his life.[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) • [8](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/sam-moore-can-t-stand-up-for-falling-down-9196233.html) He performed with Bruce Springsteen, who called him "our greatest living soul singer" and brought him onto *Human Touch* (1992); he sang for six US presidents, and in 1996 recorded "Dole Man", a reworking of "Soul Man" for Bob Dole's presidential campaign.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary) • [9](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/11/sam-moore-was-more-than-a-soul-man-he-was-one-of-the-20th-centurys-great-live-performers) • [1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) His 2006 album *Overnight Sensational* gathered guests including Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey, Sting, Jon Bon Jovi, and Steve Winwood.[10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-sam-moore-414130.html)
**Advocacy and disputes.** Moore joined a 1993 legal effort by artists against record companies and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists over retirement benefits; he told the Associated Press in 1994 that despite his million-selling records his pension amounted to $2,285, payable as a lump sum or at $73 monthly.[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) He and his wife founded music education programs at the Wheatley and Dunbar schools he had attended in Miami.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary)
## Death
Moore died on 10 January 2025 at a hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, at age 89, from complications while recovering from surgery; at the time he was planning to return to the studio with producer Rudy Perez to finish an album project.[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709) • [11](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article298356513.html) He is survived by his wife Joyce, his daughter Michell, and two grandchildren.[1](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709)
## References
1. [Sam Moore, who sang 'Soul Man' in Sam & Dave duo, dies at 89 because of surgery complications, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/bcdf09de45e2475a8c016d30b4297709)
2. [Sam Moore obituary, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/12/sam-moore-obituary)
3. [Color photo o](https://rbhalloffamemarksms.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2018-RB-HOF-Induction-Cereomy-Program.pdf)
4. [The Innovators: Stax Artist Spotlights — Sam & Dave, Stax Records](https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/sam-dave/)
5. [Sam Moore — Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam-moore-mn0000289930)
6. [Sam and Dave, Memphis Music Hall of Fame](https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/samanddave/)
7. [Sam & Dave — Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sam--dave-p5344)
8. [Sam Moore: Can't stand up for falling down, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/sam-moore-can-t-stand-up-for-falling-down-9196233.html)
9. [Sam Moore was more than a Soul Man – he was one of the 20th century's great live performers, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jan/11/sam-moore-was-more-than-a-soul-man-he-was-one-of-the-20th-centurys-great-live-performers)
10. [Album: Sam Moore — Overnight Sensational, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-sam-moore-414130.html)
11. [Obituary: Miami's Sam Moore, soul music icon, dies at 89, Miami Herald](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article298356513.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › Classic R&B and soul, pre-1970*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license