Starting out in the mid-'50s, this sonorous Philadelphia singer went on to become one of soul's true survivors. He enjoyed a strong late-career surge thanks to 2002's Don't Give Up On Me, which featured songs penned by an all-star cast. Burke's plaintive tenderness and world-weary gravity loom large on that album's title track, while his snappy oldie “Cry to Me” scored a second life via Dirty Dancing. Burke's low-slung emotional heft translated just as well to his periodic forays into country music, from his early hit “Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Empty Arms)” to his 2006 album Nashville.