Soul legend Luther Ingram has died of a heart attack at the age of 69, his family have announced.
Ingram, who co-wrote the Staples Singers classic ’Respect Yourself’, died on Monday (March 19) in Belleville, Illinois near his home in ’O’Fallon.
He had suffered for years from diabetes, kidney disease and partial blindness, according to his wife Jacqui.
His son Eric said: “He couldn’t tolerate the dialysis. It began to take a toll on his heart, which caused his heart to fail.”
Ingram was part of Stax Records, the influential label in Tennessee that included Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Booker T and the MGs and Rufus Thomas.
His hits included ’Ain’t That Loving You (For More Than One)’, ’I’ll Be Your Shelter’, and, most famously, ’(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want To Be Right’. The song reached Number Three on Billboard's R&B chart in 1972.
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