[3] Benton switched to RCA's Vik subsidiary in 1957, where he had a single chart appearance, 1958's "A Million Miles From Nowhere", which peaked at No.

He wrote two songs that charted for other performers, Clyde McPhatter's "A Lover's Question" and Nat King Cole's "Looking Back".

[3] In 1958, Benton signed with Mercury Records, where he recorded hits "It's Just A Matter Of Time", "Endlessly", "Thank You Pretty Baby", "So Many Ways", "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)", "A Rockin' Good Way" (both duets with Dinah Washington), "Kiddio", "The Boll Weevil Song", and "Hotel Happiness".

[5][6] In August 1959 Benton partnered with Dinah Washington to record the song and their version, released in January 1960, was hugely successful on both the pop and R&B charts, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot R&B sides chart for 10 weeks,[7] becoming one of the most successful R&B singles of the 1960s.

3 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart, sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.

Then, in 1968, he signed with Cotillion Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, where, the following year, he enjoyed his last major hit with "Rainy Night in Georgia", written by Tony Joe White and produced and arranged by Arif Mardin, a million-seller which topped the Billboard R&B chart.

[13] Weakened from spinal meningitis, Benton died of pneumonia in Queens, New York City, at the age of 56 on April 9, 1988.

[14] He was survived by his wife, Mary Benton, and six children: Brook Jr., Vanessa, Roy, Is'real, Gerald, and Benjamin.