Eddie Kendricks

Eddie Kendricks (Edward James Kendrick) (December 17, 1939, - October 5, 1992) was a falsetto singer and songwriter. He is noted for being one of the lead singers of the Motown singing group The Temptation

Eddie Kendricks (Edward James Kendrick) (December 17, 1939, - October 5, 1992) was a falsetto singer and songwriter. He is noted for being one of the lead singers of the Motown singing group The Temptations during the 1960s and early 1970s, and also for recording hits as a solo artist during the 1970s.

Kendricks was born in Union Springs, Alabama; his family later moved to Birmingham, where he met and began singing with his best friend Paul Williams in their church choir in the late 1940s. In 1955, Kendricks, Williams, and friends Kel Osbourne and Wiley Waller formed a doo-wop group called The Cavaliers, and began performing around Birmingham. The group decided to move for better opportunities in their musical careers, and in 1957 Kendricks, Williams, and Osbourne moved to Cleveland, Ohio, with Waller staying in Alabama. In Cleveland, they met manager Milton Jenkins, and soon moved with Jenkins to Detroit, Michigan, where the Cavaliers renamed themselves The Primes. Under Jenkins' management, the Primes did well for themselves in the Detroit area, eventually creating a female spin-off group called THe Primettes (later The Supremes). In 1961, Osbourne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Kendricks and Williams joined forces with members of The Distants to become The Elgins, who signed to Motown that same year as The Temptations.