Jackie Wilson Live 1975

"THAT'S WHY (I Love You So)" & "LONELY TEARDROPS"
JACK LEROY "Jackie" WILSON JR.
(June 9, 1934 -- January 21, 1984)

This video was recorded in Michigan, Jackie's home state, several months before his last performance on September 29, 1975. He was performing as part of Dick Clark's Good Ole Rock 'N Roll Revue in New Jersey. and while singing "My heart is crying" from his signature song, "Lonely Teardrops" Wilson had a heart attack and fell and hit his head. Medical personnel saved his life, but because of the time it took to revive Wilson, he ended up in a coma. Although he recovered slightly, his great voice never spoke again and he spent the rest of his life in a semi-comatose state, dying on January 21, 1984.

Wilson's coma and death were not the only indignities and problems he faced in his troubled life. He fought drug addiction, and his womanizing led to an angry lover shooting him in 1961. During the height of his career, he had to play to segregated audiences in the South, and at one point New Orleans police arrested and beat him after they disapproved of one performance. In 1967, he was arrested on morals charges in South Carolina for being in a motel room with a white woman. In 1970, his 16-year-old son was killed by a neighbor during an argument. Throughout his career, his manager did not handle money properly and Wilson was left with tax debts and no money.

In the early 1970s, though, he started turning his life around, giving up alcohol and drugs and finally getting rid of the manager who caused his financial problems. But then he had the heart attack. When he finally died, he was penniless, so he was buried in an unmarked grave in Detroit, like a pauper.

Yet, he still is remembered. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and his grave is now marked, including the words, "No more lonely teardrops."