Sam Moore, the lead-tenor half of the 1960s soul duo, Sam & Dave, passed away yesterday, Friday morning. He was 89. According to NPR, “Publicist Jeremy Westby said Moore died in Coral Gables, Florida, due to complications while recovering from surgery. No additional details were immediately available.”

Moore was best known for his successful partnership with Dave Prater under contract with Tennessee’s Stax Records. Hits such as “Soul Man,” “Hold On, I’m Coming,” and “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby” pushed gospel-themed popular music to the forefront. “Soul Man” reached number 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and number 1 on its R&B chart. Both “Hold On” and “Something Is Wrong” peaked at number 2 on Billboard’s R&B charts.

Sam & Dave were only behind Otis Redding in Stax’s hierarchy, a fact that Redding purportedly wasn’t that happy with. It didn’t hurt that both acts had Stax’s full arsenal behind them, led by Booker T and the MGs, their backing group. Donald “Duck” Dunn played bass on Sam & Dave’s hits, later performing the same task for John Belushi’s and Dan Akroyd’s Blues Brothers. Isaac Hayes, who wrote all of their biggest hits with David Porter, also played organ on some of their recordings.

At the height of the duo’s popularity, in 1967, Redding headlined a Stax tour that also featured Sam & Dave. According to many in attendance, not only were Sam & Dave popular, on some nights they stole the show. Redding’s and Sam & Dave’s manager, Phil Walden, later claimed Otis refused to be booked the pair again. Who could blame him? Who wanted to be sitting on the dock of a bay when you could be dancing?

Redding died in a plane crash in 1967, leaving a huge gap for Stax. Though Sam & Dave had a few more hits, their careers went into a slow decline along with so-called “Soul” music. The pair didn’t slow down, however, touring the world almost ceaselessly through 1970. The duo broke up, made up, and then broke up for good. Dave began touring with a new Sam, this time Sam Daniels. Sam Moore attempted to stop their using the old name, but was largely unsuccessful in doing so.

Dave Prater died in 1988, and Sam Moore kept going, continually touring, recording, and working with other artists until his death. Finally, after a 60+ year career, he can finally rest, a Soul Man until the end.