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Dennis Edwards dead: The Temptations singer dies aged 74

Getty Images
Getty Images

Dennis Edwards — best known for performing as the lead singer of The Temptations — has died, aged 74.

The singer’s family told CBS news that the Detroit native died in Chicago just one day before turning 75. The cause of death has not been revealed.

Edwards replaced lead singer David Ruffin as lead singer of the Motown group The Temptations in 1968, bring funk and psychedelic rock sounds to their music. Together, they recorded two Grammy-award winning songs, “Papa Was a Rollin' Stone” and “Cloud Nine”.

Fired from the group in 1977, before they left Motown, Edwards returned again in 1980, only to leave once more to pursue a solo career.

His debut album, Don’t Look Any Further, peaked at number two in the American R&B charts, the title track from which, along with single “Coolin’ Out”, were both top 30 hits.

Edwards — who would rejoin and then leave The Temptations again in 1987 — was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 with the group by Daryl Hall and John Oates.

The singer was briefly married to Ruth Pointer, a member of Pointer Sisters, the pair having a daughter, Issa Pointer, who later joined her mother’s band.