O.V. Wright

Overton Vertis Wright, known professionally as O.V. Wright, was born on October 9, 1939, in Lenow, Tennessee, and began singing in church as a youngster. He started his career with The Sunset Travelers, a gospel group, while still in high school. In 1964, O.V. Wright signed to Goldwax Records and released his first pop recording, "That's How Strong My Love Is", which was later covered by Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones. After shifting to Don Robey’s Back Beat label due to contractual issues, he achieved significant success with songs like "You're Gonna Make Me Cry" (R&B number 6, 1965), "Eight Men, Four Women" (R&B number 4, 1967), and "Ace of Spades" (R&B number 11, 1970). O.V. Wright's music was particularly popular in the Deep South. His career saw a hiatus during the mid-1970s due to imprisonment for narcotics offenses, but he returned with Hi Records, releasing albums like We're Still Together (1979) and O.V. Wright Live (1980). Despite his return, commercial success did not follow. O.V. Wright continued to battle drug addiction and died from a heart attack in Mobile, Alabama, on November 16, 1980, at the age of 41. His influence persists through frequent sampling in hip-hop music and posthumous releases like The Complete O.V. Wright On Hi Records (1999). In 2008, the O.V. Wright Memorial Fund installed a headstone for his previously unmarked grave, and he was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame in 2024.