Lou Rawls funeral Friday in L.A.
Of the St. Louis American
Lou Rawls was a more than an annual visitor to St. Louis. He was a friend of St. Louis.
“Anything of importance to St. Louis was important to Lou,” said attorney Wayman Smith, a retired Anheuser-Busch Cos. vice president.
Smith and Rawls were personal friends and also had an ongoing business relationship when the soulful singer was working for Anheuser-Busch Cos. in Budweiser commercials.
Rawls hosted the annual Parade of Stars to benefit the United Negro College Fund and was a classic host of the annual Variety Club Telethon in St. Louis.
“Lou was a great talent and a great human being,” Smith said.
“He cared for his community, and he cared a lot for the city of St. Louis.”
The final parade of stars for the late Lou Rawls will be on Friday.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson will lead last rites Friday for Lou Rawls, the velvet-voiced singer of “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” and “Lady Love,” who died of cancer last week.
Rawls died of lung cancer January 6, 2006 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was hospitalized last month for treatment of lung and brain cancer. Rawls’ family said the singer was 72.
On Thursday, a public viewing will be held at Angelus Funeral Home.
The entertainer’s last UNCF telethon, recorded in September, aired the weekend of Jan. 6-8 in many American cities.
The family requested that, instead of flowers, donations be made to the United Negro College Fund. A longtime activist, Rawls played a major role in UNCF telethons, which began as “Lou Rawls’ Parade of Stars” and has raised more than $200 million through the years. He often visited and performed at black colleges, including Harris-Stowe State University and Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
“Twenty-seven years ago, Lou was one of the earliest entertainers to understand the power of celebrity to do good,” said UNCF President Michael L. Lomax.
“Although Lou was ill at the time of the taping (of this year’s show), participating in this annual UNCF event was something he wanted to do. Here again, we saw Lou’s commitment to helping students advance their dreams of a college education.”
Deborah Graham, regional director for the college fund, echoed that sentiment and said the local office walls have many photos of Rawls enjoying good times and the people of St. Louis.
Johnny Furr Jr., A-B vice president of urban marketing and community affairs, would often cross paths with Rawls as he supported the UNCF.
“As do the thousands of students whose lives he touched, we will miss him,” Furr said.
Rawls was in St. Louis seven times as a local Variety Club Telethon host during the decade of the 1990s. He received the local Champion for Kids award in 2002.
From Gospel to Grammy
Rawls’ earliest singing began in church choirs in Chicago. He would team with Sam Cooke during that late singer’s career and would later replace Cooke in The Highway QC’s.
He would team with Cooke again after serving in the military.
Rawls joined the Pilgrim Travelers as a lead singer. In 1958, the group was touring with Cooke when Rawls and Cooke were seriously injured in a car accident that killed Cooke’s driver. Rawls was left in a coma for several days, but recovered.
Rawls sang on a number of Cooke’s hits, including “Bring It on Home to Me.”
Throughout America and the world, Rawls was known for the “This Bud’s For You” campaign, which was launched in St. Louis.
He also appeared in 18 films, including the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas, and 16 television series. He recorded voice-overs on children’s television shows including Garfield, Hey Arnold and Rugrats. He also played the voice of the grandfather on Bill Cosby’s animated series Fatherhood.
From 1989 to 1992, Rawls made three albums with Blue Note, and in 2003, he recorded Rawls Sings Sinatra for the Savoy Jazz label.
In 2003 Rawls moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., where his lung cancer was diagnosed.
On Jan. 1, 2004, in Memphis, Rawls married his third wife, Nina, a former flight attendant, who managed his career for a time thereafter. They had one son, Aiden Rawls.
He is also survived by another son, Lou Rawls Jr., of Los Angeles; two daughters, Louanna Rawls of Los Angeles and Kendra Smith of Los Angeles; and four grandchildren.
“We will miss him in St. Louis,” said Smith.
“Lou loved St. Louis.”
