Philip Upchurch, born 19 July 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, was an American guitarist, bassist, and songwriter whose career spanned soul, R&B, jazz, and blues. Upchurch began his professional work in the early 1960s with The Kool Gents, The Dells, and The Spaniels, and gained early recognition when his single "You Can't Sit Down" with the Philip Upchurch Combo sold over one million copies and earned a gold disc in 1961; the follow‑up "You Can't Sit Down, Part 2" peaked at Number 29 on the Billboard charts. He released a succession of albums under United Artists, Cadet, and Blue Thumb, including Feeling Blue (1968), Upchurch (1969), The Way I Feel (1970), Darkness Darkness (1972), Lovin' Feeling (1973), and Phil Upchurch (1978), while collaborating with artists such as Curtis Mayfield, B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Donny Hathaway, and George Benson. Upchurch’s work as a house guitarist for Chess Records in the mid‑1960s saw him contribute to recordings by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and The Dells, and he later toured with Oscar Brown Jr. and appeared on Mr. Oscar Brown Jr. Goes to Washington (1965). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he recorded with Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, and Michael Jackson, and in the 1990s he worked with Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, releasing Midnite Blue (1991) and Love Is Strange (1995). Upchurch passed away in Los Angeles, California, on 23 November 2025, leaving a legacy of versatile musicianship across multiple genres.
