Hank Ballard grew up singing gospel in church in his hometown of Bessemer, Alabama. He had always wanted to sing professionally, and at 16 years of age got a chance to do it when he took over a group called The Royals, which had been organized in 1950 (and among whose original members were Levi Stubbs and Jackie Wilson). Ballard replaced one of the group's singers and immediately began to shift its style from that of smooth, harmonic pop melodies to a grittier R&B-edged, gospel-influenced - and...
Read more: Imdb
