Curtis Mayfield

After leaving his position as leader of the Impressions, one of the most successful black vocal groups of the 1960s, Curtis Mayfield made progressive and highly influential funk/R&B records, most notably the soundtrack to the cult movie SUPERFLY. His unique, simultaneous rhythm/lead guitar style and fragile falsetto vocals have been much imitated but never duplicated. In 1990, Mayfield was the victim of an onstage accident that made him a quadriplegic, but it didn't stop him from making music. He released an album of new material in '96, though he would pass away three years later.

• r&b/soul