What Is Blue-Eyed Soul?

"Blue-Eyed Soul" (also sometimes called "white Soul") is an expression used to describe Soul and/or R&B music performed by white people; specifically by Caucasians who "sound black." Legendary Philadelphia radio DJ and civil rights activist Georgie Woods is credited with inventing the term in the 1960s as a way of letting the listening audience know what race the singer or singers were if their singing voices could pass for African Americans,' but weren't. There is little difference between Blue-Eyed Soul and Soul music by African-Americans and both, for the most part, deal with the topics of love, pain, romance and sorrow.

The term has everything to do with skin color, but little to do with actual eye color: all Blue-Eyed Soul artists are white, but not all Blue-Eyed Soul artists have blue eyes. In fact, most don't. There have been plenty of artists to whom the term has been applied, dating back to the '60s with Dusty Springfield, The Righteous Brothers and several others. From the late 1970s through the early 2000s, the popularity of Blue-Eyed Soul declined, coinciding with the dip in popularity of standard Soul music. However, during this time, there were a small number of noteworthy artists in the genre, including Teena Marie in the 1980s and Jon B. in the 1990s, both of whom are still active in the recording industry to this day.

Beginning in the mid 2000s, Blue-Eyed Soul experienced a resurgence, partially due to the popularity of several British and European singers, including Amy Winehouse, Duffy Joss Stone and Adele. Several American singers have been part of the trend as well, including Robin Thicke and pop singer Justin Timberlake. For more information, see about.com's article on recommended Blue-Eyed Soul artists.