Willie Clayton

Although born in Indianola, Mississippi, on March 29, 1955, vocalist Willie Clayton rose to prominence after relocating to Chicago, where he joined artists like Koko Taylor as one of the city's most iconic blues singers during the late twentieth century and beyond. Raised on gospel music, he developed a soulful voice at a young age and made his recording debut with 1969's "That's The Way Daddy Did," which was released when he was only 14 years old. He moved to Chicago in 1971 and began recording songs with Al Green's producer, Willie Mitchell, who signed Clayton to Pawn Records in 1974. Although none of the those recordings became national hits, Willie Clayton established himself within the Chicago scene and began earning national recognition in 1984, when "Tell Me" climbed to Number 78 on Billboard's Hot R&B chart. "What a Way To Put It" peaked at Number 84 that same year. Willie Clayton returned to the Hot R&B chart in 1989 with "Never Too Late," "Tell Me," and "I Wanna Be Where You Are," all of which cracked the Top 75. A full-length album, Never Too Late, was released that same year, but it wasn't until the early 2000s that Willie Clayton's albums began to fare as well as his singles. 2001's Little Giant of Soul became his first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Top Blues Albums Chart, peaking at Number 7 and setting the stage for 2002's The Last Man Standing, 2004s' Changing Tha Game, 2005's Full Circle, 2006's Gifted, and 2008's My Time, all of which charted within the Top 10. He began climbing the R&B charts during the 2010s and beyond, too, earning his highest-ranking R&B hit to date with 2021's "Love Don't Hurt Me," which peaked at Number 30 on the Adult R&B Songs chart.

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