Dennis Edwards

Dennis Edwards Jr. (February 3, 1943 – February 1, 2018) was an American soul and R&B singer who was best known as the frontman in The Temptations for Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David Ruffin and sang with the group from 1968 to 1976, 1980 to 1984, and 1987 to 1989. In the mid-1980s, he launched a solo career, recording the 1984 hit single "Don't Look Any Further" (featuring Siedah Garrett). Until his death, Edwards was the lead singer of The Temptations Review, a Temptations splinter group. Biography Early years and career Edwards was born in Fairfield, Alabama, about eight miles from Birmingham, to Reverend Dennis Edwards Sr. and Idessa Fuller. He began singing at two years old in his father's church. The Edwards family moved to Detroit, Michigan when Edwards was about ten years old. He would continue to sing in the church pastored by his father, eventually becoming choir director. As a teenager, Edwards joined a gospel vocal group called The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and studied piano and musical composition at the Detroit Conservatory of Music. After learning that Sam Cooke had switched from gospel to secular music, he organized his own soul/jazz group, Dennis Edwards and the Firebirds in 1961. Back at home, he was not allowed to sing or listen to secular music due to his mother's disapproval of a secular music career. In 1961, Edwards recorded a single for the obscure Detroit label, International Soulville Records, "I Didn't Have to (But I Did)" b/w "Johnnie on the Spot".