TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -Penyanyi Soul dan R&B yang terkenal berkat hit 1961 berjudul Stand By Me, Ben E. King, meninggal dunia karena sebab alami, kata humasnya seperti dilaporkan The Telegraph.

Ben E. King meninggal dunia dalam usia 76 tahun.

Karir penyanyi yang lagu hitnya itu disukai di seluruh dunia tersebut mulai menanjak pada akhir 1950 bersama The Drifters yang menelurkan sejumlah lagu, antara lain There Goes My Baby dan Save The Last Dance For Me.

Penyanyi R&B ini semakin sukses berkat lagu Spanish Harlem, I (Who Have Nothing), dan Don't Play That Song (You Lied).

King tidak pernah diberitakan menderita sakit pada tahun-tahun belakangan ini dan dia pernah menggelar tur di Inggris pada 2013, selain manggung di AS tahun lalu.

Suatu ketika dia pernah mengomentari pemujaan penggemar kepada lagunyaStand By Me dengan berkata, "Saya bangga sekali lagu itu bertahan menguji masa".

King terlahir dengan nama Benjamin Earl Nelson di North Carolina. Dia tumbuh besar di Harlem, New York dan memulai karir bernyanyinya bersapa grup Five Crowns.

Berikut lirik lagu abadi "Stand by Me"

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So darling, darling
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh stand, stand by me
Stand by me

If the sky, that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darling, darling
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me
Stand by me

So darling, darling
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me
Oh stand by me, oh won't you stand now, stand
Stand by me
Stand by me