Billy Paul, who sang 'Me and Mrs. Jones,' is dead at 80

Soul and jazz singer Billy Paul scored an international hit in 1972 with a love song about infidelity, "Me and Mrs. Jones," and a year later he beat Ray Charles and Curtis Mayfield for a best male R&B Grammy. He never again reached that level of success, but Paul performed until he became ill with pancreatic cancer, his co-manager Beverly Gay tells The Associated Press. Paul died at home in Blackwood, New Jersey, on Sunday. He was 80.

"Me and Mrs. Jones" was written by Philadelphia songwriters and producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, and they said late Sunday that Paul was "one of the great artists to come out of Philly and to be celebrated worldwide." Gamble and Huff also released music by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O'Jays, and Lou Rawls, but "the salacious smash 'Me and Mrs. Jones'" was "one of the greatest love songs ever recorded," they added.

Paul was born Paul Williams, and changed his name to avoid confusion with the songwriter who shared his name. As a teenager, before serving in the Army, he performed with Charlie Parker, Dinah Washington, and other jazz greats. He is survived by his wife, Blanche Williams, and two children. You can watch and listen to him perform his greatest hit on Soul Train below. Peter Weber

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