From the AP :
Wilson Pickett, the soul pioneer best known for the fiery hits “Mustang Sally” and “In The Midnight Hour,” died of a heart attack Thursday in a Reston, Va., hospital, according to his management company. He was 64.
“He did his part. It was a great ride, a great trip, I loved him and I’m sure he was well-loved, and I just hope that he’s given his props,” Michael Wilson Pickett, the singer’s son, told WRC-TV in Washington after his death.
Pickett, known as the “Wicked Pickett”, became a star with his soulful hits in the 1960s. “In the Midnight Hour” made the top 25 on the Billboard pop charts in 1965 and “Mustang Sally” did the same the following year.
Roger Friedman, a journalist and friend who featured Pickett in his 2002 documentary on soul greats, “Only the Strong Survive,” said Pickett was “really Atlantic’s answer to James Brown.”
“He wrote his own songs … he was very very musically adept, and look at his contribution _ look how many songs of his songs have been covered?” Friedman told The Associated Press on Thursday.