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Jerry Butler, soul hitmaker and Illinois politician, dies aged 85

Singer and songwriter who had a longstanding partnership with Curtis Mayfield earned the nickname ‘Iceman’ for his cool demeanour

Born to a poor family in Mississippi and then raised in Chicago, Butler originally trained to be a chef – “Jerry could cook like somebody’s mama,” Smokey Robinson later said – but became an influential and versatile musician who came of age as soul music evolved out of doo-wop and mid-century pop. He brought his gospel music background to bear on one of his earliest songs, For Your Precious Love – named as one of the 500 greatest of all time by Rolling Stone in 2004 – which he wrote and then performed with his group Jerry Butler and the Impressions, taking it to No 11 in the US charts in 1958. Butler also found success with his takes on a series of pop standards, including Moon River and Make It Easy on Yourself, but his biggest hit of all was self-penned: Only the Strong Survive, which reached No 4 in 1969.

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