Although his life has been full of hardship and controversy, Bobby Womack has emerged to cement his legacy as a legend in soul music as a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist. Womack was born in the mid 1940s in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a musician who pushed his children toward music, and soon Womack, along with brothers Cecil, Curtis, Friendly Jr. and Harry, formed a group called the Womack Brothers. After meeting Sam Cookie when they opened for the Soul Stirrers in 1953, he signed them to his label and helped them become an R&B group known as the Valentinos.

The Valentinos had a few hits in the early and mid 1960s including "Lookin' for a Love" and "It's All Over Now," which was written by Bobby Womack. The song was also picked up and made a hit by the Rolling Stones. Cooke died in 1964, and Womack drew controversy for marrying Cooke's wife, Barbara Campbell, a mere three months after his death. Womack claimed to do it to protect Campbell, many years his senior, but the incident did much damage to Womack's career. His songs were not well-received following the scandal, leading to him playing backing guitar for Ray Charles and appearing on albums by stars like King Curtis and Aretha Franklin.

By 1968, most of the mainstream music scene had seemed to forget about the controversy as Womack found chart success with the single "What Is This?" He followed the release with a string of pop covers, which were generally successful. He started writing more with in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which produced hits like "It's Gonna Rain." Womack released his first United Artists album in 1971, which started a string of hit albums for Womack and his biggest solo success. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Womack continued to release albums and even had a gospel album in 1999.