Wright is among the most remembered voices of
soul music, perhaps mostly for being
sampled frequently in
hip hop music. In 1996, his song "
Motherless Child" was sampled on the
Ghostface Killah album
Ironman and on the
Sunset Park movie soundtrack on a song also called "Motherless Child". That and another Wright recording, "
Let's Straighten It Out", have been published on
Shaolin Soul, a compilation of tracks that have been sampled by the
Wu-Tang Clan and its members. "Let's Straighten It Out" was sampled in a Wu-Tang Clan song called "America" from the charity
compilation album America Is Dying Slowly. "Ace of Spades" was sampled by
Slim Thug and the Boss Hogg Outlawz on a song named "Recognize A Playa". Wright has been a big influence on many soul and blues singers, including
Robert Cray,
Otis Clay,
Taj Mahal as well as young soul singer
Reggie Sears, among many others.
Johnny Rawls joined Wright's backing band in the mid-1970s, and played together with Wright until the latter's death in 1980. The band then continued billed as the O.V. Wright Band for another 13 years, and toured and performed with other musicians over this time span. These included
B. B. King,
Little Milton,
Bobby Bland,
Little Johnny Taylor, and
Blues Boy Willie. He is a 2024 inductee to the
Blues Foundation's
Blues Hall of Fame. ==Discography==