Albert Leornes Greene, born on April 13, 1946, is professionally known as Al Green. He is an American singer, songwriter, pastor, and record producer. Al Green is most famous for recording popular soul songs in the early 1970s, such as "Tired of Being Alone" (1971), "I'm Still in Love with You" (1972), "Love and Happiness" (1973), "Take Me to the River" (1974), and his most well-known song, "Let's Stay Together" (1972). In the 1980s, he became an ordained pastor and recorded gospel music.

Al Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. The museum described him as "one of the most gifted performers of soul music." He has also been called "The Last of the Great Soul Singers." He has won 11 Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He has received the BMI Icon award and been honored at the Kennedy Center. In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine listed him as No. 65 on its "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" list. In 2023, he was ranked No. 10 on its "200 Greatest Singers of All Time" list.

Al Green is considered a key Memphis soul artist. He worked closely with many famous R&B musicians in Memphis. His long and successful partnership with producer/arranger Willie Mitchell and the Hi Rhythm Section helped him achieve his greatest commercial success.

Early life

Albert Leornes Greene was born on April 13, 1946, in Forrest City, Arkansas, as the sixth of ten children born to Cora Lee and sharecropper Robert G. Greene Jr. At about the age of ten, Al began performing with his sister in a group called the Greene Brothers. During the late 1950s, the Greene family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

While still a teenager, Al was asked to leave the family home after his very religious father discovered him listening to Jackie Wilson.

In high school, Al formed a vocal group called Al Greene & the Creations. Two members of the group, Curtis Rodgers and Palmer James, created an independent label named Hot Line Music Journal. In 1966, after changing their name to Al Greene & the Soul Mates, they recorded the song "Back Up Train," which was released on Hot Line Music. The song became popular on the R&B charts and reached number 46 on the Cashbox Top 100. However, the group's later songs and their first album, Back Up Train (1967), did not become popular. While performing with the Soul Mates, Green met Memphis record producer Willie Mitchell, who asked him in 1969 to sing for a Texas show with Mitchell's band. After the performance, Mitchell invited Green to join his Hi Records label.

Career

Al Green began his music career by trying to sing like famous artists such as Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, and James Brown. His vocal coach, Mitchell, helped him discover his unique singing style. Before releasing his first album with Hi Records, Green changed his name by removing the final "e." His first album, Green Is Blues (1969), was a moderate success. His next album, Al Green Gets Next to You (1971), included a popular R&B cover of the Temptations' song "I Can't Get Next to You," performed in a slow blues style. The album also featured his first major hit, "Tired of Being Alone," which sold a million copies and was certified gold. This was the first of eight gold singles Green released between 1971 and 1974.

Green's album Let's Stay Together (January 1972) became one of his most important works. The title track reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. This was his first gold-certified album. His next album, I'm Still in Love with You (October 1972), went platinum due to hits like "Look What You Done for Me" and the title track, both of which reached the top 10 on the Hot 100. His album Call Me (April 1973) produced three top-10 singles: "You Ought to Be with Me," "Call Me (Come Back Home)," and "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)." Other popular songs from this period included "Love and Happiness," a cover of the Bee Gees' "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," "Simply Beautiful," "What a Wonderful Thing Love Is," and "Take Me to the River," which was later covered by Talking Heads and Syl Johnson.

Green's album Livin' for You (December 1973) was also certified gold. He continued to release successful R&B hits in the following years, including "Livin' for You," "Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)" from Al Green Explores Your Mind, "Let's Get Married," "L-O-V-E (Love)," and "Full of Fire."

By the time Green released The Belle Album in 1977, his record sales had dropped, partly because of personal challenges and his decision to become a minister. His last Hi Records album, Truth n' Time (1978), did not chart in the top 40.

Green continued recording R&B music but saw declining sales and mixed reviews. In 1979, he injured himself during a performance in Cincinnati and took this as a sign from God to focus on his church and gospel music. From 1981 to 1989, he released several gospel albums. His first gospel album, The Lord Will Make a Way (1980), was released under Myrrh Records, a Christian label. The title song won Green his first of eight Grammy Awards in the Best Soul Gospel Performance category. In 1982, Green acted in the Broadway play Your Arms Too Short to Box with God alongside Patti LaBelle. In 1984, a documentary titled Gospel According to Al Green was made, featuring interviews and footage from his church. In 1985, Green reunited with Willie Mitchell and Angelo Earl for He Is the Light, his first album for A&M Records. His 1987 album, Soul Survivor, included the R&B hit "Everything's Gonna Be Alright," which reached No. 22 on the Billboard R&B chart, his first top-40 R&B hit since 1978.

Tina Turner later covered "Let's Stay Together" in 1983, using it as a comeback single. Unlike Green's version, Turner sang the second verse first. Green returned to secular music in 1988 with "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," recorded with Annie Lennox for the Scrooged movie soundtrack. The song became his first top-10 pop hit since 1974. In 1989, Green had a hit with "The Message is Love" produced by Arthur Baker. In 1991, he recorded the theme song for the short-lived show Good Sports. In 1993, Green signed with RCA and released Don't Look Back, produced by Arthur Baker. He won his ninth Grammy Award for a duet with Lyle Lovett on "Funny How Time Slips Away." His 1995 album, Your Heart's in Good Hands, was released around the time he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The album's single, "Keep On Pushing Love," was described as having the simple, early style of his classic songs.

In 2000, Green released his autobiography, Take Me to the River. In 2002, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and recorded a hit R&B duet with Ann Nesby on "Put It on Paper." In 2003, he reunited with Willie Mitchell for the album I Can't Stop. In 2004, he re-recorded "Simply Beautiful" with Queen Latifah for her album The Dana Owens Album. In 2005, Green and Mitchell collaborated on Everything's OK.

Green's 2008 album, Lay It Down, was produced by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and James Poyser. It was his first album to reach the top 10 since the 1970s. The album included the R&B hit "Stay with Me (By the Sea)," featuring John Legend, and duets with Anthony Hamilton and Corinne Bailey Rae. During a promotional interview, Green said he wished he had duetted with Marvin Gaye, noting that people sing together more now than in the past.

In 2009, Green recorded "People Get Ready" with Heather Headley for the album Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration. In 2010, he performed "Let's Stay Together" on Later… with Jools Holland. In 2018, Green released his first new recording in over a decade, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," produced by Matt Ross-Spang as part of Amazon Music's "Produced By" series. In 2026, Green appeared on "Goodbye Henry" with Raye on her album This Music May Contain Hope.

Personal life

On October 18, 1974, Green’s girlfriend, Mary Woodson, attacked him at his home in Memphis. She then committed suicide. Woodson was already married with three children, but she became upset when Green refused to marry her. She poured a pot of boiling grits on him while he was in the bathroom, causing serious burns on his back, stomach, and arms. These burns required skin grafts. Soon after, Woodson fatally shot herself with Green’s .38 handgun. Police found a suicide note in her purse that explained her reasons. A few days earlier, Green had sent Woodson to stay with a friend after she took sleeping pills and cut her wrists. Green said this event made him realize he needed to change his life.

After Green left the hospital in Memphis, where he received treatment for his burns, he was reportedly held hostage by his cousin. The cousin claimed Green owed her money. Green did not press charges.

In 1976, Green started the Full Gospel Tabernacle church in Memphis. He lives in Millington and preaches near Memphis. He is a member of the Prince Hall Masons, the African-American group within Freemasonry, at the Thirty-Third Degree.

In September 2013, Green’s sister, Maxine Green, was reported missing from an assisted living home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her daughter, Lasha, said Green has not contacted the family about his sister. As of March 2023, Maxine is still missing.

On June 15, 1977, Green married his first wife, Shirley Green (née Kyles), in Memphis. Shirley was originally from Chicago and worked as one of Green’s backing vocalists and as an employee at his church. They have three daughters. Shirley first filed for divorce in 1978, citing unhappy marriage and not being able to fix problems. She filed again in 1981, claiming Green had physically abused her during their marriage. Green responded by saying Shirley treated him cruelly. In a legal statement in 1982, Shirley said Green hit her with a boot when she was five months pregnant and refused to have sex. She said the attack caused head wounds, one of which needed stitches. After this, Shirley filed for divorce, but they later reconciled. She said they separated multiple times because the abuse became too frequent and severe. At first, Green denied hitting Shirley, but he later admitted to striking her under oath. Their divorce was finalized in February 1983. Green agreed to pay Shirley $432,800 in money payments for her and their children. In 1995, Shirley shared her story of abuse after hearing about the case of Nicole Brown Simpson, hoping to help others.

Green has seven children: sons Chris Burse Sr., Al Green Jr., and Trevor, and daughters Alva Lei Green, Rubi Renee Green, Kora Kishé Green, and Kala. Alva, Rubi, and Kora were born to Green and Shirley.

Green was reportedly remarried by the 1990s.

In 1974, Green’s former secretary, Linda Wills, filed a $25,000 legal case against him. Wills said Green hit her and pushed her through a glass door in his Memphis office after an argument about unpaid wages. The case was dropped because of disagreements in testimony, but in 1975, they agreed to a $100,000 settlement for assault and battery charges.

In 1977, Green and his former organ player, Larry Robinson, were arrested for assault in Irving, Texas. Robinson said Green and his bodyguards attacked him after a disagreement about money owed for past performances. Both men paid a fine for the crime.

In 1978, Green was charged with assault and battery for allegedly hitting a woman unconscious with a tree limb. The charges were dropped because the woman, who had moved, did not receive a legal notice and missed the court date.

Awards and honors

Green has been nominated for 21 Grammy Awards, winning 11, such as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Two of his songs, "Let's Stay Together" and "Take Me to the River," have been added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Green was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2004, he was inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame. That same year, he was also inducted into The Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 65 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 BET Awards on June 24, 2009.

On August 26, 2004, Green was honored as a BMI Icon at the annual BMI Urban Awards. He joined a group of previous Icon honorees that included R&B legends James Brown, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Bo Diddley. Green was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame in 2009. He was recognized as a Kennedy Center Honors recipient on December 7, 2014.

In his famous song "Walking in Memphis," singer/songwriter Marc Cohn mentions Green by name. Cohn wrote the song after a trip to Memphis, including listening to a sermon by Green.