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24 Timeline When he was born in Forrest City, Arkansas, in 1946, his name was Albert Greene.When he became famous as a singer, he shortened both his first and last names and has been known ever since as Al Green. Green has sung various kinds of music throughout his career—pop, rock, soul, gospel, and rhythm & blues. He is the pastor of a church in Memphis,Tennessee , and Green continues to sing in concerts all over the world and to record new music. Green’s parents, Robert and Cora Greene, had ten children.The twelve Greenes lived in a two-room house near Forrest City. Robert was a sharecropper,which means that he worked on a farm owned by another person and had to share earnings from the farm with its owner.Green and his brothers sang gospel music in many of the churches around Forrest City.When Green was nine, his family moved to Michigan, where his father found a better-paying job. The family continued to sing gospel music in churches. Green’s father kicked him out of the group when he caught him listening to popular rock music. In Michigan, Green joined with other musicians to form a singing group that they called Al Green and the Soul Mates. A musician from Tennessee heard Green and his group’s music and persuaded Green to move to Memphis and record for his company. Green’s music became very successful. In the early 1970s, he had seven songs reach the Top Ten list in popular rock music inAL GREEN (1946–) Photo courtesy of Clay Patrick McBride Al Green recording at the Royal Studios in Memphis. Born: April 13, 1946 First (and only) number-one song: 1971   25 cluding the number-one hit “Let’s Stay Together.” Those successes were followed by sad times. In 1974, a friend of Green’s attacked him in his home, burned him with hot food, and then shot herself. In 1979, Green fell off a stage while performing in Ohio. Green decided that he was not meant to be singing popular music. Using money from his singing career, he bought a church in Memphis, not far from Elvis Presley’s mansion, Graceland. Green became the pastor of that church. He also added a recording studio to its property , where he recorded himself and other musicians singing gospel music. Green’s music has always been very popular in Arkansas , as it is all over the world. In 1996, Green was one of the first people inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in Pine Bluff. Since 2000, Green has returned to singing his popular music from the early 1970s, as well as gospel music and soul music. As a pastor in Memphis, he is freq u e n t ly asked to conduct weddings for fans of his music . Those fans travel from as far away as Japan to be married by Green. “The Al Green you see onstage or hear over the radio is about as real as a dream that might wake you up one night.” Began work at Full Gospel Tabernacle: 1976 Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 1995   Forrest City Al Green at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis Photo courtesy of Clay Patrick McBride ...

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