Dennis Edwards, Lead Singer Of The Temptations, Has Died At 74

Getty Image

Dennis Edwards, the one-time lead singer of the iconic R&B group the Temptations, has died. The singer’s family confirmed the tragic news to CBS News. He was set to turn 75 years old just tomorrow, and was in Chicago at the time of his death.

Edwards was born in Fairfield, Alabama on February 3, 1943, but moved to Detroit when he was 10. He served in the U.S. Army in the early 1960s and when he got out he auditioned for Motown Records, who put him on retainer. Edwards bounced around a few groups before he formally joined the Temptations back in 1968, replacing David Ruffin. He was featured on some of the group’s biggest and most beloved hits, songs like “I Can’t Get Next to You,” “Ball of Confusion,” “Cloud Nine,” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” The latter two numbers both won Grammys awards

In 1976, the Temptations left Motown for Atlantic Records. Edwards split from the group around the same time. He would come and go a few times throughout the 1980s and was inducted with the group in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1989. Outside of the Temptations, Edwards is most known for his 1984 hit “Don’t Look Any Further,” which was sampled for a number of different, iconic hip-hop tracks like Tupac’s “Hit ‘Em Up” Eric B. and Rakim’s genre-defining classic”Paid in Full,” Lil Wayne’s “Way of Life,” and Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s “Getting’ Money” with the Notorious B.I.G.”

Our deepest condolences go out to his friends and family.

×