Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson 1958
"Lonely Teardrops," by R&B and Soul singer Jackie Wilson in 1958, became an across-the-board national Top 10 Pop chart smash hit at #7, and #1 on the R&B chart. and is ranked on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and ranked as the 57th biggest U.S. hit of 1959. It is also listed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of "The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll", and is a 1999 Grammy Hall of Fame Inductee as well. The song was originally intended to be recorded as a ballad but was re-arranged into the smash hit it became. Money from the song's success helped Berry Gordy Jr. form Motown Records. Wilson himself was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He was considered a master showman earning the nickname "Mr. Excitement" and became one of the most dynamic singers, and performers, in Soul, R&B, and Rock & Roll history.