AMSTERDAM - Solomon Burke was born to the sound of music in an upstairs room of a Philadelphia church and went on to become one of the greatest soul singers of the 1960s, renowned as among music's premier vocalists.
Yet his popularity never matched that of those he influenced, contemporaries including James Brown and Marvin Gaye, a reality he accepted with grace and some frustration, colleagues said.
Burke, 70, died early Sunday of natural causes at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, his family said on the singer's website.
"Although our hearts and lives will never be the same, his love, life and music will continue to live within us forever," it said. The family did not elaborate on the cause of death.
Schiphol Airport police spokesman Robert van Kapel confirmed that Burke died on a plane at Schiphol. He arrived early Sunday on a flight from Los Angeles and had been scheduled to perform a sold-out show on Tuesday in a church converted into a concert hall in Amsterdam with local band De Dijk.
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Legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler once called Burke "the best soul singer of all time."
Anti-Records President Andy Kaulkin, whose label produced Burke's comeback record, "Don't Give Up On Me," which won him his first and only Grammy, said, "Popular music today wouldn't be where it is without Solomon Burke."
Kaulkin called Burke a precursor to singers like Isaac Hayes and Barry White.
Burke, a giant man with a powerful soulful voice to match, appeared on stage on a throne in later years partly because of his regal persona and partly because of health problems. He joined Atlantic in 1960 and went on to record a string of hits in a decade with the label.
Kaulkin said Burke "gracefully" accepted the fact that his fame was eclipsed by singers he influenced.
Two of Burke's best-known songs reached a wider audience when they were featured in hit movies.
He wrote "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" in 1964 and it was later featured in the Dan Aykroyd- John Belushi movie "The Blues Brothers," and Patrick Swayze danced seductively with Jennifer Grey to Burke's "Cry To Me" in "Dirty Dancing."
