October 10, 1961 - January 18, 1996

From Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Hairston was 3 years old when he made his debut as a singer. "My father had asked Curtis to get up in church and sing," said Shirley H. Holloway, Hairston's mother. "He walked up there, reached up and grabbed that microphone like it belonged to him."

His cool, satin-smooth delivery often favorably compared to that of Luther Vandross, Peabo Bryson and the late Billy Eckstine made Hairston the toast of the New York club scene.

He died from diabetes related kidney failure at the age of just 34 years old.

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