Biography
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Born
5 February 1941
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Born In
West Point, Clay County, Mississippi, United States
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Died
29 January 2023 (aged 81)
Barrett Strong (born in West Point, Mississippi, on 5 February 1941 ; died 29 January 2023) was an American singer and songwriter. Amongst the first artists signed to Berry Gordy's Motown label, he is remembered as having the label's first hit (with "Money (That's What I Want)" in 1960) and for co-writing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and many other hit songs. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.
It was in the mid-1960s that Strong became a Motown staff lyricist, teaming with producer Norman Whitfield. Together, Strong and Whitfield wrote some of the most successful and critically acclaimed songs ever to be released by Motown, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by both Gladys Knight & the Pips and Marvin Gaye, "War" by Edwin Starr, "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth, and the long line of "psychedelic soul" records by The Temptations, including "Cloud Nine", "I Can't Get Next to You", "Psychedelic Shack", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", among others. Strong received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for co-writing "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".
After Motown moved its operations base from Detroit, Michigan to Los Angeles, California, Strong left the label and resumed his singing career, recording two albums for Capitol Records in the mid-1970s.
In the 1980s, Strong recorded "Rock It Easy" on an independent label, and wrote "You Can Depend on Me", which appeared on The Dells' The Second Time album (1988). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.
Strong released his album, Stronghold II, which he wrote and composed in collaboration with Eliza Neals in 2008, in digital format only.
In 2010, Strong appeared in "Misery", his first music video in his fifty years of recording music.
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