<Tr> <Th> Associated acts </Th> <Td> The Drifters The Five Crowns </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.beneking.info' </Td> </Tr> <P> Benjamin Earl King (born Benjamin Earl Nelson, September 28, 1938--April 30, 2015), known as Ben E. King, was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer . He was perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me"--a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later in 1986 (when it was used as the theme to the film of the same name), a number one hit in the UK in 1987, and no . 25 on the RIAA's list of Songs of the Century--and as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B vocal group the Drifters notably singing the lead vocals of one of their biggest global hit singles (and only U.S. #1 hit) "Save the Last Dance for Me". </P> <P> King was born Benjamin Earl Nelson on September 28, 1938, in Henderson, North Carolina, and moved to Harlem, New York, at the age of nine in 1947 . King began singing in church choirs, and in high school formed the Four B's, a doo - wop group that occasionally performed at the Apollo . </P>

Who was the original artist that sang stand by me