Sam Cooke Death: Who Shot Sam Cooke and why?

Samuel Cook, known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur.

Sam Cooke is commonly referred to as the “King of Soul” for his distinctive vocals, notable contributions to the genre and significance in popular music.

Sam Cooke began singing as a child and joined the Soul Stirrers as lead singer in the 1950s.

Going solo in 1957, Sam Cooke released a string of hit songs, including “You Send Me”, “A Change Is Gonna Come”, “Cupid”, “Wonderful World”, “Chain Gang”, “Twistin’ the Night Away”, “Bring It On Home to Me”, and “Good Times”.

During his eight-year career, Sam Cooke released 29 singles that charted in the Top 40 of the Billboard Pop Singles chart, as well as 20 singles in the Top Ten of Billboard’s Black Singles chart.

Sam Cooke was killed at the age of 33 on December 11, 1964, at the Hacienda Motel, in South Central Los Angeles, California, located at 91st and South Figueroa Street.

Answering separate reports of a shooting and a kidnapping at the motel, police found Sam Cooke’s body, which had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, and was later determined to have pierced his heart.

The motel’s manager, Bertha Franklin, said she shot him in self-defense, however, her account was immediately disputed by Cooke’s acquaintances.

However, there was a strange lack of interest in investigating Sam Cooke’s death and his close friend, Muhammed Ali spoke concerning the lack of investigation.

Muhammed Ali said;

“If Cooke had been Frank Sinatra, the Beatles or Ricky Nelson, the FBI would be investigating.”

Singer Etta James viewed Cooke’s body before his funeral and questioned the accuracy of the official version of events and wrote that the injuries she observed were well beyond the official account of Cooke having fought Franklin alone.

Etta James wrote that Cooke was so badly beaten that his head was nearly separated from his shoulders, his hands were broken and crushed, and his nose mangled.

Some have speculated that Cooke’s manager, Allen Klein, had a role in his death. Klein owned Tracey, Ltd, which ultimately owned all rights to Cooke’s recordings.

However, no concrete evidence supporting a criminal conspiracy has been presented (as at the time of writing).