"Got a Pop History/Pop Culture question from the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's?" Just askmrpophistory@mrpophistory.com

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From Tiana G – Hello Mr. Pop History. Your site is full of great African American pop information and I solute you. In your opinion, who was the first diversified African American singer? Someone who had big records, but did more than that. Someone who turned it into a successful business: had prowess. Everyone points to Michael Jackson during the 1980’s.  

Mr. Pop History – I have to say Sam Cooke who was hitting his stride during the early 1960’s. I pulled this from 1961 – it was an appearance on a syndicated talk show featuring Mike Wallace called “PM.” According to this – Sam Cooke had sold some 25 million records, was a music publisher and an artist with a lot of clout and savvy. And he was parlaying his success into other areas. This comes to us from June of 1961.

Come back soon, as I answer, to the best of my knowledge, another one of your pop history/culture questions.