American soul singer dies of stomach cancer

ayodele johnson

September 24, 2017 12:04 PM

Charles Bradley who released three studio albums was a soul singer who achieved fame at a very late stage.

Charles Bradley, an American soul singer who found music success late in his career has reportedly died of stomach cancer at the age of 68.

His representative made the announcement of his death on Saturday, September 23, 2017, via social media.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Charles Bradley. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” a statement reads.

The deceased disclosed that he was cancelling his tours in the US, South America and Europe earlier in September due to health complications with the hope of coming back better, but that wasn't meant to be.

“When I come back, I’ll come back strong, with God’s love. With God’s will, I’ll be back soon,” Bradley said in an earlier address to fans prior to his passing.

ALSO READ: Eddie Murphy's brother dies at 57

The late singer who drew a lot of comparison to another dead music legend, James Brown discovered himself while attending the concert of the latter.

He revealed in a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone that seeing brown's performance at the Apollo Theater in 1962 encouraged him to want to be become like him.

“When they called James Brown on stage, I’ll never forget they had this purple light and yellow light – my two favorite colors. And when they introduced him, he came flying on the stage on one leg and I said, ‘What in the hell is this?’

“And I was mesmerized. I was just gone. I was just shocked. Shocked. I said, ‘Wow. I wanna be something like that.’”

It was only many years after, 1996 specifically that he scored a chance at fame. This was after meeting Gabriel Roth, a co-founder of Daptone Records who discovered him at one of his performances at a local club and introduced him to future opportunities.

Before calling time on earth, Bradley was able to release three studio albums, "No Time for Dreaming" (2011), "Victim of Love" (2013) and "Changes" (2016). He was indeed a late bloomer.

ayodele johnson