Roy Hamilton

Roy Hamilton
Hamilton in 1957.
Background information
Birth name	Roy Hamilton
Born	(1929-04-16)April 16, 1929 Leesburg, Georgia, United States
Died	July 20, 1969(1969-07-20) (aged 40) New Rochelle, New York, United States
Genres	Traditional pop, show tunes, swing, vocal jazz, R&B, soul
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1947–1969
Labels	Epic, MGM, RCA
Website	Official website

Roy Hamilton (April 16, 1929 – July 20, 1969) was an American singer. By combining semi-classical technique with traditional black gospel feeling, he brought soul to Great American Songbook singing. Hamilton's greatest commercial and artistic success occurred in the 1950s. He is best known for his recordings of "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Unchained Melody" and "Ebb Tide".

Hamilton's style and sound directly influenced later artists such as Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson and The Righteous Brothers, all of whom covered his music.

Roy Hamilton was born in Leesburg,Georgia where he began singing in church choirs at the age of six. In the summer of 1943, when Hamilton was fourteen, the family migrated north to Jersey City, New Jersey in search of a better life. There, he sang with the Central Baptist Church Choir, New Jersey's most famous African American church choir. At Lincoln High School, he studied commercial art and was gifted enough to place his paintings with a number of New York City galleries.

In February of 1947, seventeen-year-old Hamilton took his first big step into secular music, winning a talent contest at the legendary Apollo Theater. But nothing came of it. “I couldn’t get a break," Hamilton recalled. "I really had nothing different to offer. They were seeking blues singers at the time, and I didn’t know any blues at all." So, to support himself while he developed the different sound and singing style he wanted, Hamilton took a job as an electronics technician during the day and became an amateur heavyweight boxer at night, amassing a record of six wins against only one defeat.