1960 Elvis Presley Hit Turned a Future '70s Soul Superstar’s Life Around—You Won’t Believe How

In 1960, a chart-topping Elvis Presley song did more than dominate the airwaves—it unexpectedly turned the life of one young man around, setting him on the path to becoming a soul legend.

The King of Rock and Roll released “It’s Now or Never.” The song was a career-defining hit, released shortly after his tour of service for the United States Army concluded.

The song was written by Wally Gold and Aaron Schroeder, who based their version on a melody similar to the Italian classic, Eduardo di Capua‘s “O Sole Mio.” According to American Songwriter, Presley heard “There’s No Tomorrow” by Tony Martin while stationed in Germany, and wanted a song with a similar musical style.

Gold and Schroeder came up with “It’s Now or Never.” The song would become a worldwide smash, per the Elvis History Blog, and reach the pinnacle of Billboard’s charts in August 1960.

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The song did more than become a worldwide hit; it changed the life of a future soul superstar who was spending time in a juvenile detention center for his crimes. American Songwriter reported that, as a young man, Barry White spent four months in jail after stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.

White was midway through his sentence when he heard the Presley hit coming from another cellmate’s block. He recounted the moment in his book Love Unlimited.

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The future soul superstar explained, “I’d heard [the song] before, I don’t know, twenty-five, thirty times. But it never hit me like it did that night. It was, of all people, Elvis Presley!”

“The song? ‘It’s Now Or Never’. It became my personal message, meant only for me. ‘Stop wasting your time, Barry,’ it said. ‘When you get out, you better change your ways. It’s now or never.’ I sat up in my cell bed, and right then, and there took an oath that I would do just that—change my life.”

He concluded, “I knew I was never going back in, that the life I’d known on the street, all of it was history. I was going to change everything, because the night before I’d heard the Voice and the Voice had heard me!”

White stayed true to his promise. He turned his life around and began a career in the music business, recording some of the best soul songs of a generation.

Barry White would go on to have six Top 10 Billboard hits. These would include 1975’s “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything,” 1973’s “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby,” 1977’s “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me,” 1974’s “Never Ever Gonna Give Ya Up,” and 1975’s “What Am I Gonna Do With You.”

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Elvis Presley died in 1977 at 42. Barry White died 26 years later in 2003 at 58.

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