Legendary Soul Singer Willie Hutch Dies

Posted by Rhonda Lamon [b]Legendary Soul Singer Willie Hutch Dies[/b] Sep 20, 2005, 08:47 AM Memphis, TN– Millions of R&B and Motown fans are mourning the loss of Willie Hutch. The soul singer and songwriter died last night at his home in Dallas, Texas. The cause of death has not yet been released. Hutch was 60-years old. He was born Willie McKinley Hutchinson in 1946 in Los Angeles, but was reared in Dallas, where he released his first debut solo single, “Love Has Put Me Down.” Hutch put out his first album in 1964 and went on to produce and write a number of albums. [b]In 1970, record producer Hal Davis asked Hutch to help finish off a song he desperately needed completed for the Jackson 5. That song was “I’ll Be There.” The Jackson 5 recorded Hutch’s version the next day, and it eventually became one of the group’s early hits. It also led to Motown head Berry Gordy hiring Hutch as a songwriter-producer for other Motown artists on a regular basis.[/b] News Channel 3 spoke to Hutch’s band leader shortly after the news of his death broke overnight. Luke Weathers remembers Hutch as a musical genius and exceptional songwriter. [b]Hutch also wrote the entire album for the 70’s movie “Foxy Brown”, and produced albums for Michael Jackson and Smokey Robinson.[/b] He even wrote a song for the soundtrack to the movie “Hustle and Flow”. Hutch’s back-up band for the last two years, “7 Down” lives in Memphis. News Channel 3 also spoke to Willie Hutch’s manager, Anthony Voyce, early this morning by phone. “I’ve never met a more generous and caring person to have been around. To have a man to have been around like that, is amazing. We’re going to miss him”. Family and friends are not saying exactly how Willie Hutch died late last night. Source: http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=3872802