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Lamont Dozier, one-third of the legenday “Holland-Dozier-Holland” songwriting and production trio who wrote many of Motown Records’ biggest hits for the Supremes, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas and others, has died at the age of 81. The news was confirmed by his son Lamont Dozier Jr.; no cause of death has been announced. His family issued the following statement: “Lamont Dozier, devoted father and legendary songwriter, producer and recording artist, died peacefully in his home on Monday, August 8. He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, Barbara Ullman Dozier and is survived...

Kenneth “Ken” Williams, who wrote or co-wrote more than 500 songs including the classic 1972 hit “Everybody Plays the Fool” recorded by The Main Ingredient with lead vocals by Cuba Gooding Sr., died June 17 following a long non-Covid illness at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY. He was 83. His death was announced by his wife, the Broadway actress and singer Mary Seymour Williams. Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery Although most widely known for “Everybody Plays the Fool,” the classic R&B song he co-wrote with Rudy Clark and J.R. Bailey, Williams was a prolific songwriter,...

Welcome to the weekend and here we are still doing it the way we've always done it whether the "trolls" like it or not. Wake up and smell the coffee about certain realities the coronavirus situation and restrictions related to it likely to be tightened in the face of the numbers but the election situation perhaps giving the governors being told by Washington and people like Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci a pause... Newsdump Update: US Syria Envoy Says His Mission Ending But US Policy Will Stay The Same If Biden Is President... The Establishment policy is set...

Levi Stubbs, who sang on Motown band the Four Tops' biggest hits, has died at his home in Detroit aged 72. The singer, who had not toured with the group for several years because of ill health, passed away in his sleep. Abdul Fakir is the only surviving original member of the group, who have sold more than 50 million records. The Detroit band became one of Motown Records' biggest successes, scoring hits including Bernadette and Reach Out (I'll Be There). Founding members Lawrence Payton and Obie Benson died in 1997 and 2005 respectively.

Arguably the most powerful voice in Motown's storied history has been silenced. Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs, Jr., died today (Oct. 17) at his home in Detroit after a long series io illnesses -- including cancer and a stroke -- that forced him to stop performing in 2000. He was 72. Funeral arrangements are pending for Stubbs, who is survived by Clineice, his wife of 48 years, and five children. "He had one of the most prolific and identifiably voices in American history," the Motown Alumni Association's Billy J. Wilson tells Billboard.com. "It's a deep loss, to the entire...

Obie Benson (Filed: 05/07/2005) Obie Benson, who died on July 1 aged 69, was for 50 years a member of The Four Tops, the group which provided the Motown label with some of its most enduring hits of the Sixties, among them Reach Out, I'll Be There and Walk Away Renee. The band was formed in 1954 when Benson and Lawrence Payton, a fellow student at Northern High in Detroit, were encouraged to show off their vocal talents at a birthday party in company with two pupils from Pershing High, Abdul Fakir and Levi Stubbs. Such was the reception that...

DETROIT - (KRT) - Motown lost a musical pillar Friday. Renaldo ``Obie'' Benson, who for more than half a century provided the bass vocal foundation to the Four Tops' lush harmonies, died Friday morning at Harper Hospital in Detroit. He had turned 69 on June 14. Benson had been battling a sudden onset of medical problems. Last month, he suffered a heart attack after the amputation of a leg because of circulation problems. He was subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer, and began intense, stage-four chemotherapy last week. Abdul ``Duke'' Fakir and Levi Stubbs remain the two surviving members of the...