Ronnie milsap biography 1944

Now, looking back on the last 50 years, no country singer had as smooth a touch as Ronnie Milsap.

Blending country and soul so elegantly it could often appeal to a pop audience — and it did: “(There’s) No Gettin’ Over Me” went all the way to number five on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1981 — Milsap also had deep roots in soul.

Long before he was a fixture on the country charts — during his prime, he racked up 35 number one hits — Milsap cracked the R&B charts with a version of Ashford & Simpson’s “Never Had It So Good,” and that familiarity with rhythm & blues was apparent throughout his work.

Nevertheless, his strength lay in taking it easy, a quality evident on “Pure Love,” his breakthrough number one in 1974.

Arriving just after Charlie Rich brought a similar country-soul synthesis into the upper reaches of the charts, “Pure Love” rocketed to number one on Billboard’s country charts, followed to that position by “Please Don’t Tell Me How