American singer Barrett Strong, historic pillar of the Motown label for which he wrote some of his best-known hits, has died at the age of 81, the Motown Museum announced on Sunday.
“It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing of legendary Motown singer and songwriter Barrett Strong,” the Detroit-based museum wrote on Twitter.
Born in Mississippi, he grew up in the American capital of the automobile and was released in 1959 Money (That’s What I Want)the first hit of Motown, a major black record label that would gain immense influence on soul, rhythm and blues and beyond.
Along with another Motown Records producer, Norman Whitfield, he would co-write the label’s other big hits, including I Heard It Through the Grapevinemade famous by Marvin Gaye in 1968, and Temptations tracks like Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me, in 1971.
His songs written with Norman Whitfield “were groundbreaking in their sound and embodied the spirit of that era,” Motown founder Berry Gordy said on Sunday, quoted by the trade magazine Billboard.
“Barrett was a founding member of the Motown family, and he will be greatly missed,” he added.
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