Roy Hawkins
American musician
Roy Theodore Hawkins (February 7, 1903 – March 19, 1974) was an American blues singer, pianist, and songwriter. After working in clubs, he broke through with his 1950 song "Why Do Things Happen to Me" inspired by an auto accident which paralyzed his right arm. Several of his songs, most notably "The Thrill Is Gone", were covered by later artists, including Ray Charles, B.B. King, and James Brown.
Biography
Hawkins was born in Jefferson, Texas. Little is known of the early part of his life. By the mid-1940s he was performing as a singer and pianist in the Oakland, California area, where he was discovered by musician and record producer Bob Geddins, who was impressed by Hawkins' "soulful, doom-laden style". Hawkins seems to have made his first recordings when about 45 years old, for the Cava-Tone and Down Town record labels in 1948. His band, the Four Jacks, included saxophonist William Staples, guitarist Ulysses James, bassist Floyd Montgomery, and drummer Madison Little.
He signed with Modern Records in Los Angeles the following year, and stayed with that label until 1954. He had his first chart hit with "Why Do Things Happen To Me" (also known as "Why Do Everything Happen To Me").
The public source identifies “Roy Hawkins” as american musician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Hawkins, American and musician.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2170854. VIAF identifies the subject as 6845149108418368780001. The Library of Congress control number is no97001591. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1903, 1974, 1950 and 1948.
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This entry incorporates text from “Roy Hawkins” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.