Curtis Mayfield

Soul Musician

A versatile and creative musician, Curtis Mayfield is usually remembered for performing the funky soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation movie Superfly. The album is considered one of R&B's landmark discs, and Mayfield became an influence on many later soul, rock, and R&B musicians. Mayfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as an individual performer (inducted 1999) and as the leader of the 1960s soul group the Impressions (inducted 1991).

Extra credit: In 1990 Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down in a freak onstage accident at a Brooklyn concert.