What was Sam Cooke’s Net Worth and Salary?
Sam Cooke, also known as the King of Soul, was an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He had a net worth of $2 million at the time of his death, which is equivalent to around $17 million today.
Cooke was a pioneer of soul music and had numerous hit recordings during his career. His song “A Change is Gonna Come” was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress in 2017.
Aside from his music, Cooke was also a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He used his influence and popularity to fight for racial equality and was close friends with Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali.
Tragically, Cooke was killed on December 11th, 1964 at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, CA.
Early Life and Career of Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke was born on January 22, 1931, in Clarksdale, Mississippi, as the fifth of eight children. His father was a minister at the Church of Christ. The family moved to Chicago in 1933, where he attended Doolittle Elementary and later, Wendell Philips Academy High School.
Cooke began singing at the age of six and joined his siblings in the group, the Singing Children. In his early teens, he became the lead singer of the American gospel group, the Highway Q.C’s.
Sam Cooke’s Music Career
In 1950, Sam Cooke became the lead singer of gospel group the Soul Stirrers, signed to Specialty Records. He brought gospel music to a younger audience, and in 1956, he recorded his first song as a solo artist under a pseudonym. He signed with Keen Records in 1957 and released his first hit, “You Send Me,” which spent six weeks at No.1 on the Billboard R&B chart and three weeks at No.1 on the Billboard pop chart.
Sam signed a record deal with RCA Victor in 1960 and released hits like “Chain Gang,” “Bring It On Home to Me,” Another Saturday Night,” and “Twistin’ the Night Away.” In 1961, he started his label SAR Records to encourage African-American artists to record and achieve fame while receiving proper royalties. Sam wrote most of his songs and released eleven studio-albums during his six-year solo career, including the critically acclaimed “Ain’t That Good News” in 1964.
Sam Cooke’s Tragic Death
On December 11th, 1964, Sam Cooke was fatally shot at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, CA. The hotel manager, Bertha Franklin, claimed that she shot Cooke in self-defense during a dispute they had. Cooke was hit three times in the chest and died on the scene.
Cooke’s funeral service was held seven days later in Chicago, where more than 200,000 fans came to pay their respects. The streets were lined with mourners as Cooke’s body was carried through the city.
The Musical History of Sam Cooke’s Ferrari Lusso
In November 1964, Sam Cooke bought a silver gray over black interior Ferrari Lusso s/n 5207 for the MSRP of $13,375. He painted the car burgundy red and drove it to an Italian restaurant and then to the Hacienda Motel, where he was subsequently murdered. The car was idling in the parking lot when cops arrived on the scene after his death. The car entered probate then was put on the market.
In early 1965, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys bought the car for $10,000 and attached a boat trailer to it. The car was badly damaged in a rear-end accident in 1968, then sold to a local sports car dealership where it was repaired. In 1986 it sold for $45,000. By the 2000s/2010s, it was worth $500,000. Today it is worth $1-2 million, even without the storied musical history.
A different red Ferrari, a 275 GTB/4 NART, would later be crashed by members of Charles Manson’s infamous family after Wilson allowed a dozen of the female “family members” to take up in his house. In the time the girls lived with Wilson, he would drive a group of them down to supermarket and watch them dumpster dive for discarded food.
Legacy of Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke’s music career was cut short by his untimely death, but his impact on the music industry and the Civil Rights Movement continues to be felt today.
One of his most famous songs, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. Cooke’s pioneering soul music style influenced the likes of Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye.
Cooke’s popularity gave hope to the young African-American population across the country, including Michael Jackson and Prince. His contributions were recognized with inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986 and 1987.
In 2017, “A Change Is Gonna Come” was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. The National Recording Registry deemed the song “culturally, historically, and aesthetically important.”
Sam Cooke’s Personal Life
Sam Cooke was twice married. His first marriage to Dolores Elizabeth Milligan lasted from 1953 to 1958. The following year, Dolores was killed in a car accident. Although they were divorced, Cooke paid for all of his ex-wife’s funeral expenses.
In 1958, Cooke married Barbara Campbell and they had three children together, Linda, Tracy, and Vincent. Tragically, their son Vincent died at the age of two in 1963 after drowning in the family swimming pool.
