Soul singer Solomon Burke (70) has died at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, a Dutch police spokesman has said.Burke, who wrote the hit Everybody Needs Somebody to Love among many others, was both a Grammy winner and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He had been due to perform on at the well-known club Paradiso in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
The singer was born in Philadelphia in an upstairs room in a gospel church.
"Many artists claim to have their roots in the church, but few go back this far and run this deep," he said on his website.
Live UK performance from Solomon Burke on Top of the Pops with his classic signature tune "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love"
He started recording when he was 14 with his first song "Christmas Presents From Heaven" into a million seller.
The man who Tom Waits called "one of the architects of American Music" counted Mick Jagger among his many fans.
The Rolling Stone admitted trying to imitate Burke's style of phrasing when he was starting out.
The singer was busy to the end, having run up more than 130,000 frequent flier miles this year alone, with concerts throughout the UK and Europe. (Source Sky)
Live performance of "Proud Mary" on the Dutch Pinkpop festival in 2003
Solomon Burke Rest in Peace.