Paul Williams (The Temptations)
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Paul Williams (July 2, 1939 - August 17, 1973) was an African-American second tenor singer. He is noted for being one of the founding members and original lead singer of the popular Motown group The Temptations.
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Biography
Early years
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Williams and his lifelong best friend Eddie Kendricks moved to Detroit, Michigan as teenagers. There, they performed in a singing group known as The Primes in 1959, along with third member Kel Osbourne. Although the group never recorded, they were successful performers, and even launched a spin-off female group called The Primettes (who later became The Supremes).
In 1961, the Primes disbanded, and Williams and Kendricks joined Otis Williams (no relation to Paul), Melvin Franklin, and Elbridge Bryant--former members of rival singing group The Distants--to form The Elgins, who were signed to the local Motown label that same year, after first changing their name.
The Temptations
Now performing as The Temptations, Williams and his bandmates endured a long series of flops before finally hitting the Billboard Top 20 in 1964 with "The Way You Do the Things You Do." More hits quickly followed, including "My Girl," "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and "Cloud Nine."
Williams sang lead on a number of the group's songs, and served as lead singer during the goup's early years. His later leads included "No More Water in the Well", "Just Another Lonely Night", and his signature song, "Don't Look Back". One of his best-known lead performances is his live performance of "For Once In My Life," from the television special TCB, originally broadcast on December 9, 1968 on NBC.
Williams, a father of five, suffered from sickle-cell anemia, which would keep him in poor health at times. Plagued by the demons of a failing marriage, an unstable love affair, and being denied leads on Temptations records in favor of David Ruffin or Dennis Edwards, Williams began to drink heavily during the latter part of the 1960s, and would sometimes be unable to perform. He was in and out of hospital care for most of the first part of 1971, and was replaced by Richard Street in April of that year. His friend Eddie Kendricks had left the group earlier that year to become a solo artist.
Later years
By 1973, Williams had recovered enough to return to his music career, and Motown began plans for a solo career. Kendricks helped co-write Williams' first single, "Feel Like Givin' Up". However, on August 17, 1973, Paul Williams was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound near his car, which was parked in a deserted parking lot not far from Motown's Hitsville USA studio. "Feel Like Givin' Up' and its intended b-side, "Once You Had a Heart", were never released until long after Williams' passing.
As a member of the Temptations, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.