David Ruffin started out singing with the Temptations.

David Ruffin of The Temptations Born January 18, 1941, in Meridian, MS; died June 1, 1991, in Philadelphia, PA; son of a Baptist preacher. Began singing career with the gospel group, the Dixie Nightingales; first signed with Anna Records; joined the Temptations, alternating as lead vocalist, 1964-68; left Temptations in 1968 to pursue a solo career; rejoined the Temptations in 1982 for a reunion tour; reunited with original Temptation member Eddie Kendricks in 1984. David Ruffin made his sterling musical reputation as the lead singer for the Temptations on such smash 1960s hits as My Girl, Beauty Is Only Skin Deep, Aint Too Proud To Beg, and I Wish It Would Rain. The Temptations scored large hits in 1967 and 1968 with Ruffin leading the way, propelling him toward a solo career with Motown records that began in 1969 and lasted throughout most of the 1970s. During the 1980s, Ruffin teamed up with former Temptations Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards. Ruffin and Kendricks performed with Hall & Oates at the renovated Apollo Theatre in Harlem, then at the Live Aid concert for African famine victims and on the anti-apartheid record Sun City. Ruffin, Kendricks, and Edwards had just returned from a month-long tour of England when Ruffin died from a drug overdose on June 1, 1991.

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