'Me & Mrs Jones' Singer Billy Paul Passes Away

Philadelphia-born Grammy Award-winning soul singer Billy Paul, best known as the voice behind iconic R&B tune and #1 single Me & Mrs Jones (1972), has died at home in Blackwood, New Jersey, aged 81.

According to NBC Philadelphia, Beverly Gay, the vocalist's co-manager, said that Paul passed away on the morning of Sunday 24 April (US time). Washington outlet WTOP reports that he had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, succumbing to complications of the disease following a hospitalisation last week at Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia.

His website has also confirmed his death with a statement.

"We regret to announce with a heavy heart that Billy has passed away today at home after a serious medical condition," the statement said. "We would like to extend our most sincere condolences to his wife Blanche and family for their loss, as they and the world grieves the loss of another musical icon that helped pioneer today's R&B music. Billy will be truly missed."

Paul was born on 1 December 1934 as Paul Williams, turning his childhood love of jazz — particularly female singers such as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday — into a lifelong vocation. Despite his limited commercial success — Me & Mrs Jones was the singer's only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and one of only a handful of tracks that charted at all — Paul was a prolific, influential figure in the Philly soul scene, releasing more than 15 albums between 1968 and 1988, including 1972's 360 Degrees Of Billy Paul, which hit #1 on the US R&B chart following its release. He was a fixture of the city's Philadelphia International label for most of this time, releasing every album from 1971's Going East to 1980's Best Of Billy Paul through the soul house.

Paul experienced some controversy following his post-Me & Mrs Jones release, Am I Black Enough For You?, which carried a strong political message, and has been lauded by critics in ensuing decades, that the singer later opined was possibly too unexpected, following a relatively harmless song such as Me & Mrs Jones, to be effective. He also twice sparred with Reverend Jesse Jackson over the content of his songs (including 1975's Let's Make A Baby, for obvious reasons), while his most successful song saw him fight both Nike and his old label, Philadelphia International, in different suits over varied misuse of the song.

In 2009, Swedish director Goran Hugo Olsson released a bio-pic titled Am I Black Enough For You?, and, in 2011, aged 77 years old, he recorded a duet with French singer Chimene Badi on a recording of Ain't No Mountain High Enough.