Gene Chandler, "The Duke" was born Eugene Dixon, 6 July 1937, in Chicago, Illinois. A powerful performer and singer, he personified the laid-back, carefree attitude that the early 1960s soul and R&B singers developed. He will be best known for his 1962 smash "Duke of Earl", though he wrote and performed many more songs, and collaborated with many of the greats in the soul and R&B world, such as Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler.