Bobby Caldwell, a soulful R&B singer-songwriter who had a smash hit in 1978 with “What You Won’t Do for Love” and a voice and musical style adored by generations of his fellow artists, has died, his wife said on Thursday. Wednesday.
Mary Caldwell told The Associated Press that she died in his arms at her home in Great Meadows, New Jersey, on Tuesday after a long illness. She was 71 years old.
The smooth soul song “What You Won’t Do for Love” reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #6 on what was then called the Hot Selling Soul Singles chart. It became a long-term standard and a career-defining hit for Caldwell, who also wrote the song.
The song was covered by artists such as Boyz II Men and Michael Bolton, and was sampled by Tupac Shakur in his posthumous song “Do For Love”.
Other Caldwell songs were sampled by hip-hop artists like The Notorious BIG, Common, Lil Nas X, and Chance the Rapper.
Stories abound, many of them shared on social media after his death, of listeners shocked to learn that Caldwell was white and not black.
Caldwell only appeared in silhouette on the self-titled debut solo album on which “What You Won’t Do for Love” appears.
“Caldwell was the final chapter in a generation where record executives wanted to hide faces on record covers to give their artists a chance,” Questlove said on Instagram.
“Thank you for your voice and gift #BobbyCaldwell,” Questlove wrote.
Chance the Rapper shared a screenshot on Instagram of a direct message exchange he had with Caldwell last year when he asked to use his music.
“I will be honored if you sample my song,” Caldwell wrote.
“You are an inspiration to me and many others,” Chance told her. He said in the post that he’s never been thanked for sampling a song before and that he “hasn’t felt this broken by a stranger in so long.”
Born in New York and raised in Miami, Caldwell was the son of singers who hosted a musical variety television show called “Suppertime.” A multi-instrumentalist, he began performing professionally at age 17, and rose to prominence playing guitar in Little Richard’s band in the early ’70s. In the mid-’70s, Caldwell played in various Los Angeles bar bands before landing a solo record deal.
Caldwell never had as big a hit as “What You Won’t Do for Love,” but he did put out several respected albums, including “Cat in The Hat” (1980), featuring a fedora on the cover, and “Carry On ” (1982), in which he was his own producer and played all the instruments.
His song “Open Your Eyes” from “Cat in The Hat” was covered by John Legend and sampled by Common on his 2000 Grammy-nominated single “The Light.”
In the 1990s, Caldwell moved on to recording and performing Americana standards, including songs made popular by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, that he was so fond of in his youth.
In addition to Mary, his wife of 19 years, Caldwell is survived by daughters Lauren and Tessa and stepdaughter Katie.