Fred Willie Hughes Jr. (August 20, 1943 – January 18, 2022) was an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, and R&B singer, perhaps best known for his 1968 song, "Send My Baby Back". Hughes was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

, in 1943, and grew up in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. As a singer, he began working professionally in vocal groups from Oakland in the mid-1950s. In his teens, he sang at the Ephesian Church of God in Christ in Berkeley. The song "Send My Baby Back" (released through

Wand Records Wand Records was an American independent record label, started by Florence Greenberg in 1961 as a subsidiary of Scepter Records. Artists on Wand Records included The Isley Brothers, The Kingsmen, Mel Wynn & the Rhythm Aces, Chuck Jackson, and the ...

), was written by Lonnie Hewitt and Ernest Marbray, and issued as a single in 1968, with "Where's My Baby" on the B-side. The single appeared on the U.S. '' Billboard'' R&B chart, peaking at No. 20 that year. It also charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 peaking at No. 94. In 1969, "Send My Baby Back" was recorded by jazz trumpeter

Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his lif ...

, and appeared on his album '' The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground''. "Send My Baby Back" was Hughes' only chart success, but he remained active and performed at numerous clubs right until his death. In early January 2022, Hughes was hospitalized with pneumonia and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. He died on January 18, 2022, at age 78, from leukemia and COVID-19 complications at

Kaiser Oakland Medical Center Kaiser Oakland Medical Center is a hospital in Oakland, California. It is located at the intersection of Broadway and West MacArthur Boulevard, immediately north of Downtown. It is the flagship hospital of Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Freddie 1943 births 2022 deaths Deaths from leukemia Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California American gospel singers American soul singers American male singers Musicians from Berkeley, California