Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield is, for me, the conscience of soul music. The Chicago-born Gentle Genius wrapped hard truths about race and injustice in melodies so warm you almost forget how radical they are, scoring the civil rights era from the inside. The Superfly soundtrack still feels electric decades on. What moves me most is his resilience: paralyzed from the neck down after a 1990 stage accident, he kept recording lying flat on his back, sheer will overriding his body. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement honor and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are deserved, but his real legacy is that prayer-like voice and its refusal to be silenced.

Name (English)

Curtis Mayfield

Name (Japanese)

カーティス・メイフィールド

Reading

かーてぃす・めいふぃーるど

Born

June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Horse

Origin

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Occupation

guitarist / singer / singer-songwriter / pianist / songwriter

High school

Wells Community Academy High School

Awards & achievements

• 1995 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1994 Grammy Legend Award
• 1999 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

• Official sitehttps://www.CurtisMayfield.com
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis%20Mayfield
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%95%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%83%89
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q310170

Tags

• Illinois
• guitarist
• singer
• singer-songwriter

Last updated

2026-06-17

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.