Lou Rawls

Some sources list 1935 as Lou's birth year but a domestic violence case revealed his birth date to be December 1, 1933.

A paratrooper in the Army's 101st Airborne Division (1955 - 1958)

In November 1958, he and singer Sam Cooke were in an automobile accident in Arkansas, USA. They were injured and their chauffeur was killed.

His performance of "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", during the 1977 Grammy Awards was disrupted by a coughing fit. He gamely kept performing and managed to finish the song.

His telethon, which served as a fundraiser for the United Negro College and other black colleges, has raised more than $200 million since 1979. More than 10,000 scholarships have been provided.

Was awarded an honorary doctorate at Florida Memorial College in Miami, Sept 21, 2002

Released from Bernalillo County Jail (Albuquerque, New Mexico) after being arrested on one count of battery against his companion, Nina Inman. (16 January 2003)

Ex-companion Margaret Schaffer filed a lawsuit against Rawls for $12 million, claiming he backed out of a verbal agreement to support her financially even if they broke up. (27 March 2003)

Despite having absolutely nothing to do with the film itself, he appeared on the DVD commentary track for the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).

He and his wife and manager Nina, who was 37 years younger than Lou, had a baby boy, Aiden Allen Rawls, in Akron, Ohio, on January 10, 2005. The baby weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Nina and Lou used in vitro fertilization and another woman as the birth mother.

On 19 October, 2005, while listening to an Akron, Ohio radio morning program ("Matt Patrick and Angela In the Morning" on WKDD), Lou and Nina Rawls heard about a local woman who was about to lose her home after coping with medical bills for her special needs son left her in arrears on her mortgage. The couple immediately telephoned the radio station to donate whatever amount of money it took to bring the woman's mortgage to "Current" status.