50 Years Ago, Singer Al Green Was Attacked in His Bathtub
Al Green is known for his smooth, soulful and sexy hit songs like “Let’s Stay Together,” but his romantic life wasn’t always perfect. Fifty years ago, on Oct. 18, 1974, Green was attacked at the hands of his ex-girlfriend Mary Woodson at his own home while he was taking a bath. She broke into his home and poured a pot of hot grits on him. Then things took a shocking turn as she went to a bedroom and shot herself with Green’s gun. She passed away instantly from the gun wounds.
Green once said about the incident, “She asked me if I would marry [her]. I says, ‘Well, nah. I don’t think I’m ready to get married.’ This is 1974. I mean, I’ve just been in this [the music industry] two or three years, you know.” Unbeknownst to him, she was already married and had three children. Police reportedly found a three-page suicide letter addressed to Green in her purse. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for second-degree burns on his stomach, back and arms.
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He survived the tragic event, but the entire incident changed the course of Green’s life, and he once said it was a wake-up call to make changes. While he had achieved some massive success on the pop charts, he eventually put music behind him and became a fully ordained pastor. A year before the incident, he became a born-again Christian, and his faith helped him heal after everything that happened.
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In 1976, he purchased a church in Memphis, Tennessee, where he lived. Green is now 78 years old and occasionally does return to the stage. He was last seen performing at the Fool in Love Festival in Los Angeles on Aug. 31, 2024.
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70s Pop Idols
May 2019
The biggest and best from the worlds of rock and disco!
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