Biography

Joseph Coleman Smith (17 May 1934 – 5 September 1998), who performed and recorded under the name Sonny Knight, was an African-American singer, songwriter and author. His biggest hit was "Confidential", which reached the pop and R&B charts in 1956, and he continued to record into the 1960s. In 1981, using his real name, he wrote The Day the Music Died, a fictionalised account of racism in the American music business in the 1950s.