Wire services reporting his death at 72.
Sigh.
He was one in a million.
Agreed, although I’m saddened further by the fact that my only recent memories of him come from the insurance commercial he did.
R.I.P.
My strongest memories of Mr. Rawls was his appearances on 70’s talk shows.
I always like his voice a lot. I must admit to not having seen him for years now.
Sorry to hear of his death.
Jim
By all accounts, he was groovy people.
I saw him perform the National Anthem at one of the World Series games sometime in the 80s and it was utterly amazing. By far the best rendition I’ve ever heard, bar none. What a sexy, sexy voice that man had. May he rest in peace.
He had a marvelous voice with intonation and phrasing to which Barry White and Isaac Hayes might only aspire. Even his speaking-voice was in the same league with James Earl Jones. He’s certainly at least a minor giant of our musical heritage who will often be spoken of as under-rated.
I saw Mr. Rawls perform up in Raleigh a few years back. He did one hell of a show. A great entertainer. He will be missed.
I’ve loved his voice all my life. He just had it all. He’s definitely going to be missed.
Awww, man. That’s sad. 
I just saw him on the Soul Train Christmas special that was on last month. I think he sang a jazzy version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.
He was a true original.
I grew up wanting a voice like Barry White’s or Lou’s when I hit puberty. I ended up with Theo Huxtable.
Still, man: Lou was a seriously mellow fellow.
I had no idea that he was the voice of Budweiser for three decades. “When you’ve said ‘Bud’, you’ve said it all.”
I’m only familiar with Mr. Rawls’ radio-friendly hits, but they are definitely classics.
I heard in an obit that he had a four-octave range, a very impressive feat. OTTOMH, I wasn’t aware that anyone other than a few female divas could claim a full four octaves.
Budweiser, harrumph. Given the sonorous depth of his voice, it would’ve made more sense if he’d plugged Bass ale instead. [d&r] Bad pun there, but a better beer…