Tucker, Ira B.

▪ 2009

      American gospel singer

born May 17, 1925, Spartanburg, S.C.

died June 24, 2008, Philadelphia, Pa.

was for seven decades the arresting lead singer of the a cappella soul-gospel group the Dixie Hummingbirds, who enjoyed a flourishing career and influenced such performers as James Brown and the Temptations. Tucker, who joined the Hummingbirds in the late 1930s, was known for his passionate dancing, throaty screams, and skill at “trickeration,” in which one singer would pick up a note where another left off. He also composed several of the group's most successful songs, including “Christian's Automobile,” “Who Are We?,” and “This Evening.” Although the group edged into the secular music scene as backup vocalists for Paul Simon's 1973 hit song “Loves Me like a Rock” (and received a Grammy Award that same year for their own version of the song), the Dixie Hummingbirds remained primarily a gospel group. They were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000 for their 1946 rendition of “Amazing Grace.” The last album to which Tucker contributed, Still Keeping It Real: The Last Man Standing, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2007.

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