Brunswick Records · Public domain

Jackie Wilson, nicknamed "Mr. Excitement," was among the most electrifying live performers of the twentieth century, a showman whose acrobatic stage act directly shaped Elvis Presley, James Brown and Michael Jackson. He scored 16 top-10 R&B hits and helped carry rhythm and blues into soul with songs like "Lonely Teardrops" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher." He converted to Judaism, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 after collapsing on stage in 1975 left him in a minimally conscious state for the rest of his life.