Jerry Butler, R&B Hitmaker of the ’60s Known as ‘The Iceman,’ Dies

Jerry Butler, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted R&B singer who began his career with the Impressions, then scored numerous hits as a solo act, before going on to a successful political career, died Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Going by the nickname “The Iceman,” Butler was 85. Butler died in his hometown of Chicago; the cause was unspecified but Butler was known to have Parkinson’s disease.

Butler’s death was confirmed in a social media post by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Although born in Sunflower, Miss., on Dec. 8, 1939, Butler became synonymous with the sound of Chicago soul. His family moved to the northern city when Butler was three years old and his singing career effectively began in the miid-’50s when he sang in a church choir with guitarist Curtis Mayfield. In 1957, the pair joined an established group called the Roosters, which became Jerry Butler and the Impressions. Also including Fred Cash, Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and his brother Arthur Brooks, the group signed to Vee-Jay Records, reaching #3 on the Billboard R&B chart and #11 on the wider Hot 100, in 1958, with “For Your Precious Love,” a ballad co-written by the Brooks brothers and Butler.

By 1960, Butler had left the Impressions, who went on to a successful career led by Mayfield. That year, Butler, still with Vee-Jay, logged his first major hit on his own with “He Will Break Your Heart,” which he had co-written with Mayfield and Calvin Carter, a producer and A&R man for the label. The single reached #1 R&B and #7 on the Hot 100, establishing Butler on his own. His other hits of that early period included the R&B top 10 singles “Find Another Girl” and “I’m A-Telling You,” as well as “Moon River,” written by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer. Butler’s version of the song, from the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s (which also became the signature number for pop crooner Andy Williams), peaked at #14 R&B in 1962 and #11 in the Hot 100. “Make It Easy on Yourself,” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, went top 20 in both the R&B and pop charts that same year. It later became a hit for the Walker Brothers.

Butler’s next big hit was the ballad “Let it Be Me,” a 1964 duet with singer Betty Everett that had earlier been a hit for the Everly Brothers. Also released on Vee-Jay, Butler and Everett took the song to #5 on both the R&B chart and the Hot 100.

Related: Bruce Springsteen covered two classic Jerry Butler hits on his album Only the Strong Survive, titled after one of Butler’s signature tunes

In 1965, Butler co-wrote the song “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now)” with Otis Redding, and the latter’s single became a major R&B hit.

Butler’s success rate became erratic for the next few years. He switched to Mercury Records in 1966 and had a top 10 R&B hit, “I Dig You Baby,” in 1967, then made a more pronounced comeback the following year with a string of top 10 R&B hits, including two #1s: “Hey, Western Union Man” in 1968 (#16 pop) and “Only the Strong Survive” (#4 pop) the following year. His other R&B hits of the late ’60s included  “Never Give You Up,” “Are You Happy” (both 1968), “Moody Woman” and “What’s the Use of Breaking Up” (both 1969), all of which were top 10 R&B hits, but he never made the pop top 10 again after the end of the ’60s.

Butler maintained a strong R&B presence, however, scoring top 10 placements with “If It’s Real What I Feel” (1971), “Ain’t Understanding Mellow,” a duet with Brenda Lee Eager (1971), “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (1972, with Eager), “One Night Affair” (1972) and “I Wanna Do it to You” (1977, for Motown). Butler’s last charting R&B hit was “In My Life,” a duet with Patti Austin in 1993.

Butler also placed 18 albums on the Billboard LPs chart during his career but only 1969’s The Ice Man Cometh made a noticeable impact, peaking at #29.

Butler continued to perform but his second career took him in a completely different direction when, in 1986, he was elected a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. He remained in that position until 2018. As a member of the board, he chaired the Health and Hospitals Committee and served as Vice Chair of its Construction Committee.

As a member of the Impressions, Butler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. He was also inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2015.

Butler, who remained a Chicago resident throughout his life, was often referred to by his nickname, “The Iceman,” given to him by a Philadelphia disc jockey who admired Butler’s cool delivery.

Watch Jerry Butler perform on The Midnight Special in 1973

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Jeff Tamarkin

Best Classic Bands Editor Jeff Tamarkin has been a prolific music journalist for more than four decades. He is formerly the editor of Goldmine, CMJ and Relix magazines, has written for dozens of other publications and has authored liner notes for more than 80 CDs. Jeff has also served on the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a consultant to the Grammys. His first book was 'Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.' He is also the co-author of 'Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.,' with Howard Kaylan.

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