LOS ANGELES — Lou Rawls, the velvet-voiced singer and longtime community activist who started as a choir boy and went on to record such classic tunes as "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," died Friday of cancer. He was 72.

Rawls died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was hospitalized last month for treatment of lung and brain cancer, said his publicist, Paul Shefrin. His wife, Nina, was at his bedside when he died.

Rawls' trademark was his smooth, four-octave voice — the "silkiest chops in the singing game," Frank Sinatra once said. Rawls' used it in a wide variety of genres, including commercials. For millions of television viewers and radio listeners, Rawls was the familiar voice that said, "When you've said Budweiser, you've said it all."

"He was one of the few singers that you knew without hearing more than a few notes, that it was him," Burt Bacharach told The Associated Press.

A longtime community activist, Rawls played a major role in the 1980s United Negro College Fund telethons that raised more than $200 million. In the '60s he often visited schools, playgrounds and community centers.

"What I really loved about Lou was how his voice was so unique," said Kenny Gamble, who with his partner Leon Huff wrote "You'll Never Find," released in 1976.

"The other thing was that he had a sense of community," Gamble told The AP. "Thousands and thousands of young kids benefited from his celebrity."

Aretha Franklin said in a statement that Rawls was a "memorable musical stylist ... who made a serious impact in the interest of historically black colleges and black folks."

The album "Stormy Monday," recorded in 1962 with the Les McCann Trio, was the first of Rawls' 52 albums.

In 1966, Rawls' "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing" topped the charts and earned Rawls his first two Grammy nominations, and he opened for The Beatles in Cincinnati.

"Dead End Street" won him his first Grammy for best R&B vocal performance. The singer won three Grammys in a career that spanned nearly five decades and included the hits "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)," "Natural Man" and "Lady Love." He released his most recent album, "Seasons 4 U," in 1998 on his own label, Rawls & Brokaw Records.

Rawls also appeared in 18 movies, including "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Blues Brothers 2000," and 16 television series, including "Fantasy Island" and "The Fall Guy."

Rawls was diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2004 and brain cancer in May 2005.

Along with his wife, Rawls is survived by four children: Louanna Rawls, Lou Rawls Jr., Kendra Smith and Aiden Rawls.