February 2018 Obituaries.
Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 5:55 pm
Temptations Former Lead Singer Dennis Edwards Dead at 74
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news ... 74-w516296
Dennis Edwards, a former lead singer of Motown pioneers the Temptations, sang on a string of the group's hits including "I Can't Get Next to You," "Ball of Confusion" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." He joined in an initial tenure that stretched to 1977, has died. His family confirmed the news to CBS News. He was 74.
Edwards, who was living in Missouri, died at a hospital in Chicago on Thursday night of complications from meningitis, his wife, Brenda, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was diagnosed with the disease in May 2017. His 75th birthday would have been on Saturday. Edwards was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Temptations in 1989. In 2013, Edwards also received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, given to the Temptations.
Edwards, who was born February 3rd, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama and was singing in the Contours prior to the Temptations, joined the soul hit makers when the group fired David Ruffin. He brought a fresh vivacity to the group's sound, a bit of grit to replace Ruffin's smooth falsetto. The group adopted a little more of a bluesy, soul-rock sound and began writing lyrics that spoke more to the social issues of the time, and it scored an immediate hit with the Sly Stone-like "Cloud Nine." Edwards' lineup of the Temptations then enjoyed a tenure in the upper echelons of the R&B and pop charts for the next few ears, scoring crossover hits with "Run Away Child, Running Wild," "Don't Let the Jonses Get You Down," "Psychedelic Shack and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)."
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news ... 74-w516296
Dennis Edwards, a former lead singer of Motown pioneers the Temptations, sang on a string of the group's hits including "I Can't Get Next to You," "Ball of Confusion" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." He joined in an initial tenure that stretched to 1977, has died. His family confirmed the news to CBS News. He was 74.
Edwards, who was living in Missouri, died at a hospital in Chicago on Thursday night of complications from meningitis, his wife, Brenda, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He was diagnosed with the disease in May 2017. His 75th birthday would have been on Saturday. Edwards was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Temptations in 1989. In 2013, Edwards also received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy, given to the Temptations.
Edwards, who was born February 3rd, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama and was singing in the Contours prior to the Temptations, joined the soul hit makers when the group fired David Ruffin. He brought a fresh vivacity to the group's sound, a bit of grit to replace Ruffin's smooth falsetto. The group adopted a little more of a bluesy, soul-rock sound and began writing lyrics that spoke more to the social issues of the time, and it scored an immediate hit with the Sly Stone-like "Cloud Nine." Edwards' lineup of the Temptations then enjoyed a tenure in the upper echelons of the R&B and pop charts for the next few ears, scoring crossover hits with "Run Away Child, Running Wild," "Don't Let the Jonses Get You Down," "Psychedelic Shack and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)."