Jerry Butler, Legendary Soul Singer, Dies at 85 Following Parkinson's Disease Diagnosis

Mar. 15, 2025

Jerry Butler in New York City in February 2003.Photo:Jack Vartoogian/Getty

Jack Vartoogian/Getty

Jerry Butler has died at the age of 85.

Per theChicago Sun-Times, Butler died on Thursday, Feb. 20 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a family friend told the publication. “He was very important to both music and to the community, and he will be missed," his niece Yolanda Goff told the publication on Feb. 21.

“We hope the city of Chicago recognizes the legacy he leaves behind.”

Nicknamed “The Ice Man,” Butler began his music career with the R&B group the Impressions. After two years with them, he embarked on a successful solo career, with hit songs like “He Will Break Your Heart,” “Only the Strong Survive,” “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” and many more.

Jerry Butler in New York City in 1965.Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

He and his future Impressions bandmate Curtis Mayfield sang with the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers. When they left the group, they joined the Roosters. In 1958, the group got a new manager and a new name: Jerry Butler & the Impressions.

Their first hit single was 1958’s “For Your Precious Love,” which hit No. 3 on the R&B chart and No. 11 on theBillboardHot 100. It was Butler’s favorite of all his songs, he told NPR. “ ‘For Your Precious Love’ is the one song that if I go and perform someplace and don’t sing it, people want their money back. They think they’ve been cheated,” he said.

From left: Curtis Mayfield, Jerry Butler and Fred Cash in New York City in 1965.Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

After the song’s success, “all of a sudden I had money,” Butler told theChicago Readerin 1990. “I could buy clothes. I could buy a car. I was on the Dick Clark show [American Bandstand]. I was doing all the kind of stuff that folks dream about. But I don’t think it ever really affected me the way it does other people. I never saw it as I’m a star.”

Butler left the group in 1960. He would continue to collaborate with Mayfield, however, and Mayfield wrote and sang background on some of Butler’s hits. Mayfield died in 1999.

Jerry Butler in Chicago in August 1980.Paul Natkin/WireImage

Paul Natkin/WireImage

Butler was also a songwriter, and he and Otis Redding co-wrote the latter’s hit “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.”

Jerry Butler in New York City in May 1983.Michael Putland/Getty

Michael Putland/Getty

Philadelphia DJ Georgie Woods gave Butler the nickname “Ice Man.” “While performing one night in Philadelphia, the sound system went down, and from my days in the church, we just kept on singing,” Butlertold KPBSin 2011. “So we sang the song a cappella. And when we finished it, the people jumped up outta their seats and hooped and hollered and George ran on stage and said. ‘That was the coolest thing I ever saw. So cool, we’re gonna call you the Ice Man.'” Butler later used the nickname for the 1968 albumThe Ice Man Comethand the 1969 albumIce on Ice.

Butler continued to tour and collaborate with other R&B artists. “You know, we are at the point now where we are masters of our craft, and we just go out there and have a real good time,” he told NPR. In all, he released more than 50 albums.

The Impressions in 1983.Brownie Harris/Corbis/Getty

Brownie Harris/Corbis/Getty

Butler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Impressions in 1991. But he didn’t care much for accolades. “The work is more important than the completion of the work,” he told theChicago Reader. “I enjoy doing it more than I enjoy having done it and being rewarded for it or being awarded for it or getting a plaque for it or a gold record for it. That’s the after-effect of the work. The work’s more important.” In 2004, he released a memoir,Only the Strong Survive: Memoirs of a Soul Survivor.

Butler served on the Cook County Board Commissioner in the greater Chicago area from 1986 to 2018. He took a break from recording once he was elected. He decided to enter politics, he told theReader, at the encouragement of a friend.

Jerry Butler in Cleveland in November 2011.Jason Miller/Getty

Jason Miller/Getty

“We were two young kids having a heckuva time,” Butler told theSun-Times, “doing what we loved.”

source: people.com