The self-proclaimed king of rock and soul, Solomon Burke, whose hits included Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, has died at Schiphol airport in Holland, aged 70.

The beautiful voice, apparently effortless style, and pristine diction and timing of the preacher turned singer-songwriter were legendary in the business. He was described by Jerry Wexler, his producer at Atlantic Records, as "the best soul singer of all time", and sold more than 17m records.

Burke had just arrived on a flight from LA and was due to perform in Amsterdam on Tuesday with the Dutch rock band De Dijk, to launch their joint album, Hold On Tight, his second album of the year.

He said earlier this year that he was clocking up a steady 130,000 annual frequent flyer air miles, performing across the States and in Europe – and in an interview with the Telegraph last month, he said: "As long as I have breath to do it, I'll sing."

After years when he was better known through cover versions of his songs than his own recordings, his career was reborn after his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and first Grammy award for the album, Don't Give Up On Me, the following year. Burke won new generations of fans at every appearance, including at Glastonbury two years ago.

He was born in Philadelphia in 1940, began singing in a church choir as a child and preaching too – he was dubbed The Wonder Boy Preacher – and was recording by the age of 14. He once said: "The only thing I don't know is what key I was crying in when I came into this world."

His website boasted that he was born "to the sound of horns and bass drums". From his earliest songs he created a distinctive style, mixing soul, rock and roll and country influences.

His first album for Atlantic Records in 1962, when he was 22 (or possibly 24 – he was deliberately vague about his birthdate) was entitled Solomon Burke's Greatest Hits.

The country style fooled the Ku Klux Klan into believing he was a white singer and he was once booked to entertain at a rally: not only did he escape unscathed, the audience repeatedly requested their favourite numbers.

Later hits included the 1964 classic Everybody Needs Somebody to Love, covered by everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Blues Brothers, and Cry to Me, used in the film Dirty Dancing. He in turn performed songs by Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Van Morrison and Elvis Costello, and duetted with Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Joss Stone.

He was a giant of the soul world, literally and figuratively, with 21 children, 90 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren, and in later life became immensely heavy.

In many of his last appearances, including Top of the Pops seven years ago, he sang magisterially seated in a throne-like armchair.