Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soul singer Bobby Womack, whose music was covered by The Rolling Stones, among many others, died Friday. Upon his death, Womack was recording his next album for XL, tentatively titled The Best Is Yet to Come, featuring cameos by Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart and Snoop Dogg. The cause wasn’t immediately known, but he had been battling diabetes and had cancer surgery in 2012. 1 hit when the Rolling Stones covered it in 1964 and his “Across 110th Street” enjoyed a revival when Quentin Tarantino made it the centerpiece of his soundtrack for the 1997 “Jackie Brown” movie. PHOTOS The Rolling Stones Rock Staples Center in Tour Opener 
 
 Born and raised in Cleveland, the son of two musicians and the third of five brothers, Womack began his career as a member of Curtis Womack and the Womack Brothers, who were signed to SAR Records by Sam Cooke. The group released a handful of gospel singles, including "Buffalo Bill," when Bobby was just 10 years old, before changing their name to The Valentinos and pursuing a more pop-influenced, secular sound. After leaving The Valentinos in 1965, Womack became a session musician at producer Chips Moman's American Studios in Memphis, playing on recordings by Joe Tex, Aretha Franklin and The Box Tops, before his work as a songwriter caught the ear of Wilson Pickett, who recorded his "I'm a Midnight Mover" and "I'm in Love." He played guitar in Cooke’s band, and a few months after Cooke was killed in 1964, he wed Cooke’s widow, Barbara Campbell, which caused a scandal and got his career as a solo artist off to a bumpy start. Nobody got hurt, but all the instruments got torn up. Womack wrote and originally recorded New Birth's "I Can Understand It," among other songs. His R&B; hits during this fertile era included “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha,” “Woman’s Gotta Have It,” “Across 110th Street,” “Lookin’ for a Love” and “If You Think You’re Lonely Now.” 
 
 
 
 But drug addiction set him back for much of the next two decades, as he recorded only sporadically and his health deteriorated. In 2010-11, Albarn invited Womack to record and go on tour with Gorillaz, and produced the singer’s 2012 comeback album, “The Bravest Man in the Universe.” 
 
 
 
 Womack said he had no idea who Albarn was until his daughter informed him.
– Bobby Womack is dead at age 70 after a musical career that has tributes, like this in the Chicago Tribune, referring to him as the "revered poet of soul music." Though renowned as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist in his own right, Womack's work has been extensively covered by the greats. The New York Times relays this anecdote from 1964,when a new British band called the Rolling Stones covered a song he wrote called "It's All Over Now." At first Womack was ticked because he and his brothers had their own version out on the R&B charts as the Valentinos. But the Stones' version hit No. 1 in Britain, and “I stopped being upset when we got our first royalty check," Womack once said. "That changed everything.” Womack got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 and recorded a widely acclaimed album in 2012 called the Bravest Man in the Universe, a collaboration with younger artists, reports Rolling Stone. "You know more at 65 than you did at 25," he said at the time. "I understand the songs much better now." Womack the singer is probably best known for "Lookin' for a Love," "That's The Way I Feel About Cha," "Woman's Gotta Have It," "Harry Hippie," and "Across 110th Street," notes the Hollywood Reporter. Quentin Tarantino featured the latter song in his 1997 film Jackie Brown.