Former Temptations Singer Richard Street Dead at 70
Singer Richard Street, who sang with Motown’s famed Temptations for 25 years, died in a Las Vegas hospital after a short illness, according to his wife Cindy, The Associated Press reports. He was 70.
A Detroit native, Street performed with a few other groups as a young man, including Otis Williams and the Distants, a Temptations predecessor of sorts that featured future Temps Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin and Elbridge “Al” Bryant.
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Street joined the Temptations in the early 1970s, singing on classics including “Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)” and “Papa Was A Rolling Stone.” Along with many Motown acts, he left Detroit for Los Angeles in the 1970s, and he would stay with the Temptations till the mid-1990s.
After his departure from the group, Street began to tour and perform as a solo artist, and sometimes as a duo with fellow former Temptation Otis “Damon” Harris, who died just a few days ago. “They’re dancing up there in heaven, him and Damon,” Cindy Street told CNN. “I’m in disbelief right now.”
Cindy Street said funeral arrangements are still incomplete, though a service is expected to be held sometime next week in Cypress, California.