Screamin' Jay Hawkins

 

 

 Jalacy Hawkins, better known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Cleveland, Ohio, United States, July 18, 1929 - Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, February 12, 2000), was a popular African-American American singer. He had a major hit during the rock explosion of the mid-1950s. Known for his circus performances and (sometimes macabre) aesthetic, he recorded one of the biggest hits of the era, I Put a Spell on You, in 1957. He learned to compose music and play the piano as a child at the Ohio Conservatory. At the age of 14, he drops out of school and lies saying that he has one more year to join the army and fight in World War II. In the army he began to play the sax entertaining the troops. He fell into enemy hands on the island of Saipan when he was parachuted, being rescued a year and a half later.