Singer Jimmy Ruffin has died at the age of 78.
The Motown performer scored his biggest hit with 1966’s What Becomes of the Broken Hearted.
News of Jimmy Ruffin’s death follows reports last month that he was seriously ill and in intensive care at a Las Vegas hospital.
Born in Mississippi, Jimmy Ruffin moved to Detroit in the early 1960s and was signed to Motown’s Miracle label.
He moved to the UK in the 1980s, where he recorded songs with Paul Weller and Heaven 17.
Jimmy Ruffin’s other hits included I’ve Passed This Way Before, Gonna Give Her All the Love I Got and Hold On To My Love, a top 10 hit in 1980.
His younger brother David, one of the early members of the Temptations, died in 1991 of a drug overdose, prompting his sibling to become an anti-drug campaigner.
A family statement said that Jimmy Ruffin was “a rare type of man who left his mark on the music industry”.
“We will treasure the many fond and wonderful memories we all have of him” the statement said.
Motown Records founder Berry Gordy said he was a “phenomenal singer”.
“He was truly underrated because we were also fortunate to have his brother, David, as the lead singer of The Temptations, who got so much acclaim” Berry Gordy told Rolling Stone.
Jimmy Ruffin’s last album, There Will Never Be Another You, was released in 2012.
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Deke Richards, the Motown songwriter and producer who was behind songs including The Jackson 5’s first three number one hits, has died aged 68.
Deke Richards, who had oesophageal cancer, died in a Washington state hospice, Universal Music said.
The musician, whose real name was Dennis Lussier, was leader of the Motown songwriting, arranging and producing team The Corporation.
Their hits include The Jackson 5’s chart-topping I Want You Back and ABC.
Deke Richards, the Motown songwriter and producer who was behind songs including The Jackson 5’s first three number one hits, has died aged 68
Deke Richards also co-wrote Love Child for Diana Ross and The Supremes, as well as Ross’s solo track I’m Still Waiting.
He produced and wrote for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Bobby Darin.
The Corporation, which comprised of Motown label head Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Freddie Perren and Deke Richards, was assembled in 1969 to create hit records for the label’s new act, The Jackson 5.
They also wrote, produced and arranged the band’s singles and Maybe Tomorrow and Mama’s Pearl.
According to Michael Jackson biographer, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Mama’s Pearl was originally called Guess Who’s Making Whoopie (With Your Girlfriend).
But Deke Richards had the lyrics changed to preserve the young frontman’s innocent image.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Deke Richards’ “love of music” kept him involved with a variety of projects, including last year’s production of The Jackson 5’s Come and Get It: The Rare Pearls, featuring rare and unreleased tracks.
Deke Richards’ final work was the mixing of eight unreleased tracks by Martha Reeves and The Vandellas for the band’s 50th anniversary box set, which is to be released on April 5.
Deke Richards is survived by his wife, Joan Lussier, a brother and two nephews.
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