Born May 7, 1939, Collinsville, Mississippi, he first signed with a Motown subsidiary, the short-lived Miracle, in 1961. He had several hits between the 60s and the 80s, the most successful being “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.” He would recall in an interview “I heard this tune being sung by the writer James Dean. The song had the kind of words one can feel and it was a beautiful, melodic song. When I asked him whom the song was for, he told me the Spinners were going to cut it. But I told him to give it to me instead. He liked my version enough to let me have it’
He was known as the older brother of former Temptations lead David Ruffin ( who died of a drug overdose) In 1980 he released the album “ Sunrise” produced by Robin Gibb and featuring Maurice & Robin Gibb on two tracks “Where Do I Go” and “ Forever ,Forever written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb .He died Monday November 17 th in a Las Vegas hospital. He was 78.
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