Barrett Strong, prominent songwriter and crooner behind Motown’s first hit single, “Money (That’s What I Want)”, died on Sunday (Jan. 29) at the age of 81. A cause of death has not been revealed.
“Barrett was not only a great singer and piano player, but he, along with his writing partner Norman Whitfield, created an incredible body of work, primarily with the Temptations,” said Motown founder Berry Gordy said in a statement. “Their hit songs were revolutionary in sound and captured the spirit of the times like ‘Cloud Nine’ and the still relevant, ‘Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today).’ My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends. Barrett is an original member of the Motown Family and will be missed by all of us.”
Temptations founder and lead singer Otis Williams added, “Barrett has left his indelible stamp not only on Motown and the Temptations, but on music history in general. His distinguished legacy of chart hits epitomizes the golden age of Motown. Our Motown family has lost a beloved brother and extraordinary songwriter. My thoughts and prayers go out to Barrett’s son and loved ones.”
Strong was born on Feb. 5, 1941 in West Point, Miss., but moved to Detroit at age 4, where he was raised. He attended Hutchins Middle School with Aretha Franklin and fellow Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier. “I thought I was really a star then,” he told the Detroit Free Press in 2019.
According to uDiscoverMusic, he was signed to Motown’s Tamla subsidiary in 1959. His chart-topping single, “Money (That’s What I Want)” peaked No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1960 and sold over one million copies. The tune has been famously covered by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and more.
By the mid 1960s, Strong entered into a creative partnership with producer Norman Whitfield. Together, the men created some of Motown’s biggest hits including “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”—performed by Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & The Pips—along with Edwin Starr’s “War.”
They later went on to pen classic records for The Temptations like “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” “Cloud Nine,” “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today),” and “I Can’t Get Next to You.”
“Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” earned Strong and Whitfield a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1973.
In 1975 — three years after his exit from Motown — Strong told Blues & Soul, “Looking back on that whole period, I would say that the album I most felt proud of was the Temptations’ Solid Rock [1972]. At the time, Norman and I were really into that sound and we were first to really capture it […] Of the songs I’ve written, I’d say that ‘Grapevine’ and ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ are my personal pride. ‘Papa’ earned us a Grammy so we were especially proud of it at the time.”
After parting ways with Motown, Strong signed with Epic and later to Capitol. He was described by the Detroit Free Press as a “serious soul with a poetic, contemplative side.” Regarding his legacy, he told the publication, “I feel good about it. I did something. I did my part, what I was put on this earth to do. I made people smile. I made people have babies. I made people do a lot of things. So I contributed something to my being here.”
Strong continued to write and release music into the 1980s. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Songwriters in 1990 and was later inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.
VIBE sends our deepest condolences to Strong’s loved ones during this time.