Barrett Strong, the Motown artist who sang the label’s first major hit “Money (That’s What I Want)” and wrote songs for the Temptations and others, has died. He was 81. “Barrett was not only a great singer and piano player, buthe,along with his writing partner Norman Whitfield, created an incrediblebody …
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Mable John, the first female solo artist signed to Motown (then Tamla) Records, a Stax singer and longtime Ray Charles collaborator, has died at the age of 91. John died Thursday at her home in Los Angeles; no cause of death was revealed. “We loved her and she was a …
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Joe Messina, the prolific guitarist whose work with the Funk Brothers can be heard on an array of Motown classics, died Monday, April 4, the Detroit Free Press reports. He was 93. Messina died at his home in Northville, Michigan after a lengthy battle with kidney disease. Despite his long …
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