On Thursday, February 1st, the music world lost another world-class talent as Dennis Edwards, longtime lead singer of Motown legends the Temptations, passed away in a Chicago hospital just two days before his 75th birthday. His death was confirmed by Rosiland Triche Roberts, one of his booking agents. She did not specify the cause.
Before joining The Temptations, Edwards put his gospel singing background to work with another Motown group, the Contours, best known for their 1962 hit “Do You Love Me”, which they recorded before he joined them. The Contours opened for the Temptations in the late 1960s, and when the Temptations lead singer David Ruffin left the group in 1968, Edwards was asked to take his place. As groups like Sly and the Family Stone surged in popularity, Edwards’ voice was one of the main ingredients in The Temptations’ left turn into psychedelic soul and funk territory.
Shortly after Dennis Edwards joined the group, the Temptations won their first GRAMMY Award for the upbeat “Cloud Nine” (1968). They won another GRAMMY for the funk anthem “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” in 1971. That song, as well as the other two big Temptations hits from that era—“I Can’t Get Next to You” and “Just My Imagination” (on which Kendricks sang lead)—both reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart.
The Temptations received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement award in 2013. In 1989, Edwards became the only group member outside the “Classic 5” lineup (Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Otis Williams, and Eddie Kendricks) to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Temptations.
You can watch Edwards and The Temptations perform “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” below via YouTube user MOMOFUNKONE:
Rest in peace, Dennis. Your memory lives on through your music…
[h/t – Billboard]
[Cover photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images for Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, via Fox5]