Happy Birthday Little Willie John You Gave Us Fever
🎂William Edward John (aka Little Willie John)(born November 15, 1937) in Cullendale, Arkansas, but moved to Detroit as a youngster, with his parents and nine siblings. From a young age he was a gifted and spirited R & B singer — he began his singing career in a gospel group form by his parents. He wowed audiences at talent shows, and even formed his first singing group in 1950, called the United Four.
Producer Henry Glover signed him to a recording contract for King Records in 1955; shortly thereafter, he experience a roster of hit singles.
John was affectionately nicknamed “Little Willie” John because his height — he was just a little over 5 feet. He was not a tall man, however, he possessed a powerfully high rough tenor voice that he used to belt out songs that were destined to be ranked high on Billboard Magazine’s Top 100 — “Talk to Me, Talk to Me,” “I’m Shakin'”, “Heartbreak” and the first singer to popularize the iconic hit “Fever” were a few.
Peggy Lee, Buddy Guy and Lalah Hathaway had a big hits with “Fever” too. Their renditions are linked to YouTube videos. Listen to Little Willie’s version and you hear the fervor and wrenching soul in his delivery.
Little Willie was an activist too, he sung at a benefit concert for the NAACP in 1964.
Sadly, his reign of hits ended in the mid-1960s due to his trouble with drink, drugs and a bad temper. At the age of 30, he died of mysterious circumstances while serving a prison sentence in Washington State Penitentiary.
in 1996, “Little Willie” John was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His catalogue of hit songs, delivered in his inimitable style, live on to inspire us.
Watch biographical videos — Little Willie John Story Part 1 and Little Willie John Story Part 2. FEVER: Little Willie John’s Fast Life, Mysterious Death, & The Birth Of Soul