bundyspooks: “Sam Cooke, the American soul singer behind the iconic A Change is Gonna Come, was shot and killed just 11 days before the song was due to be released. Bertha Franklin, a motel manager said Cooke attempted to rape and rob her while she...

Sam Cooke, the American soul singer behind the iconic A Change is Gonna Come, was shot and killed just 11 days before the song was due to be released. Bertha Franklin, a motel manager said Cooke attempted to rape and rob her while she worked a night shift, although this has never been proven. Police found the 33-year-old singer’s body with a single gunshot wound through the heart, his last words were recorded on the phone call of Bertha Franklin to police; In the background Mr. Cooke can be heard sobbing “Miss, you shot me. Why’d you shoot me?”. The crime has been widely disputed as being premeditated and racially motivated, following Cooke’s powerful criticism on the racial tensions of 1960s America.