- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEdward James Kendrick
- Nickname
- Cornbread
- Height6′ 1½″ (1.87 m)
- Eddie Kendricks is an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do the Things You Do", "Get Ready", and "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)". As a solo artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s, including the number-one single "Keep on Truckin'."
Kendricks was born in Union Springs, Alabama, the son of Johnny and Lee Bell Kendrick. He had one sister, Patricia, and three brothers, Charles, Robert, and Clarence. His family moved to the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, where he met and began singing with his best friend Paul Williams in their church choir in the late 1940s. In 1955, Kendricks, Williams, and friends Kell Osborne and Jerome Averette formed a group called The Cavaliers, and began performing around Birmingham. The group decided to move for better opportunities in their musical careers, and in 1957 the group moved to Cleveland. In Cleveland, they met manager Milton Jenkins, and soon moved with Jenkins to Detroit, where the Cavaliers renamed themselves 'The Primes'. In 1961, Osbourne moved to California, and the Primes disbanded. Kendricks and Paul Williams joined forces with members Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin and the Distants after three members quit and became The Elgins, who on the same day changed their name to The Temptations and signed to Motown. The Temptations quickly became the most successful male vocal group of the 1960s. Although technically Kendricks was first tenor in the group's harmony, he predominately sang in a falsetto voice. In the Temptations, Kendricks was responsible for creating most of the group's vocal arrangements, and also served as wardrobe manager, including the now famous purple suits the group wore for one performance. Though Whitfield had chief responsibility for writing, Kendricks co-wrote and received credit for several Temptations songs.
Kendricks was nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning one for "Cloud Nine" with the Temptations in 1969. The Temptations received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
In 1998, NBC aired The Temptations (1998), a four-hour television miniseries based upon an autobiographical book by Otis Williams. Kendricks was portrayed by actor Terron Brooks.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bazza the Beast
- SpousePatricia Kendrick(? - 1975) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenParris Kendrick
- ParentsJohnny KendrickLee Bell Kendrick
- RelativesPatricia Kendrick(Sibling)Charles Kendrick(Sibling)Robert Kendrick(Sibling)Clarence Kendrick(Sibling)Jamaul Kendrick(Niece or Nephew)
- Falsetto singing voice
- Despite knowing that he would be arrested for back child support if he returned to Michigan, he attended David Ruffin's funeral in 1991 and was arrested right after the graveside service.
- Disliked the "psychdelic soul" music that The Temptations began singing in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was one of the reasons why he eventually left the group.
- Was close, longtime friends with his fellow The Temptations singer Paul Williams. They grew up together and were in a band called the Primes before joining Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin to create The Temptations.
- Father of Aika Kendrick, and Paul Kendrick.
- I don't really know what a superstar is. I don't think you could ever become a superstar - they call you what they want to call you - but I don't think you could ever become a superstar because that means you have made it. You have achieved it all. I don't think I want to get that big. I don't want to blow myself out of proportion. That's too heavy a cross to bear.
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