Born in Chicago on 3 June 1942, he was 14 when he formed The Roosters with Arthur and Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler. Four years later The Roosters became The Impressions and their single, For Your Precious Love, went to number 11 in the US. Other hits followed including Gypsy Woman, Find Yourself Another Girl and He Will Break Your Heart. Curtis Mayfield became known as a civil rights hero as well as a respected entertainer; 1964's Keep On Pushing is credited with broadening the parameters of black music to include a political perspective, at a time when it was dominated by love songs and dance records. He is credited with opening the way for James Brown to sing Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud in 1968 and Marvin Gaye's 1971 hit What's Going On. He is best known in the UK for his 1971 hit Move On Up, while his 1972 soundtrack to the film Superfly earned him four Grammy nominations, as well as providing fertile samples for hip-hop and dance producers in the decades to come. The late 1970s saw him act and produce for Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin, but his career faded in the 1980s until he reappeared in the UK, singing with pop band The Blow Monkeys on (Celebrate) The Day After You, a diatribe against then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
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