Sam Cooke, one of the most important soul artists of all time, was murdered in suspicious circumstances at a motel property in Los Angeles 60 years ago. His killing has never fully been explained, and to this day, conspiracy theories swirl around the slaying that silenced one of the most accomplished vocalists of the modern era.
Sam Cooke's pioneering contributions to the genre influenced the likes of Otis Reading, James Brown, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye. Cooke's own composition, 'A Change Is Gonna Come', released posthumously, became an anthem for the civil rights movement. So why after all these years do so many questions about Sam Cooke's tragic demise remain unanswered, and what do we remember him for?
Click through and learn more about the life and death of the "King of Soul."