(Saturday, March 6, 1965) — “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke peaked today at #31 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart for one week (less than three months after he was fatally shot Dec. 11, 1964).

The song, recorded on Jan. 30, 1964, was inspired by various events in Cooke’s life, most prominently when he and his entourage were turned away from a whites-only motel in Louisiana. Cooke felt compelled to write a song that spoke to his struggle and of those around him, and that pertained to the Civil Rights Movement and African Americans.

Though only a modest hit for Cooke in comparison with his previous singles, “A Change Is Gonna Come” is widely considered one of Cooke’s greatest and most influential compositions and has been voted among the greatest songs ever recorded by various publications.

In 2004, the track was voted number 12 by representatives of the music industry and press in Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”