Larry Darnell (born Leo Edward Donald, Jr.; December 17, 1928, Columbus, Ohio – July 3, 1983, Columbus)[1] was a successful American singer, who was instrumental in the formation of the New Orleans style of R&B in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
As an eleven-year-old Darnell achieved local fame as a gospel singer, and left home at 15 years of age to work as a dancer with a burlesque road show, the Brownskin Models.
were also hits, and Darnell's powerful and passionate voice contributed to the development of a trend in popular music soon marketed nationwide as rock and roll.
By now known as "Mr. Heart & Soul", he appeared in the 1955 movie Harlem Rock & Roll Revue, and spent the rest of the decade recording for various labels.
[2] In April 1979, while en route to sing at a funeral in Akron, Ohio, he was mugged by a gang, and received severe injuries.