Roy Hamilton

Roy Hamilton left a powerful mark as a vocalist even though his professional run proved brief, drawing on both classical training and gospel roots. Before launching his singing pursuits as part of the Searchlight Singers, he had studied commercial art while in high school and competed as a heavyweight Golden Gloves boxer. His dramatic, searing interpretations of “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “If I Loved You,” “Ebb Tide,” and “Unchained Melody” brought widespread acclaim throughout the mid- and late ’50s. In 1954 “You’ll Never Walk Alone” held the top spot on the R&B charts for two months, whereas “Unchained Melody” ruled the same chart for three weeks and became Hamilton’s sole Top Ten pop single. Singers including Jackie Wilson and Roy Brown absorbed elements of his style, and the Righteous Brothers later recorded their own renditions of “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Ebb Tide,” and “Unchained Melody,” the last of which gained renewed attention through the film Ghost. Exhaustion forced Hamilton into retirement between 1956 and 1958. Following a stroke in 1969, he died at the age of 40.