Johnnie Ray

Though Johnnie Ray had a number of hits in the first half of the 1950s, it's his 1952 smash "Cry" for which he’s best remembered. Partially deaf and secretly gay, Ray cut an unconventional figure on-stage, with a theatrical, emotionally wounded persona that split the difference between R&B and more conventional white male pop idols. Ray favored a melodramatic vocal style on hits such as "The Little White Cloud That Cried" that earned him the nickname "The Prince of Wails," and helped establish his reputation as the first white pop star to sing in an authentically Black style.