Otis Williams

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This Otis Williams is not to be confused with the lead singer of Otis Williams and the Charms.

Otis Williams
Otis Williams (second from right), with the Temptations in 1967.
Background information
Birth name	Otis Miles
Born	October 30, 1941; Texarkana, Texas, USA
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, USA
Genre(s)	R&B, pop, soul, disco
Occupation(s)	Singer, Dancer
Instrument(s)	Singing
Years active	1958 - present
Label(s)	Motown, Atlantic
Associated acts	The Temptations

Otis Williams (born Otis Miles, Jr. on October 30, 1941, in Texarkana, Texas) is an American second tenor/baritone singer and a soul and R&B songwriter and record producer. Williams is the leader of the Temptations, a group he co-founded in early 1960 as The Elgins, and in which he continues to perform as the sole surviving original member.

[edit] Biography

Otis Miles was the son of Hazel Louise Williams and the elder Otis Miles and was primarily raised by his grandmothers in the town of Texarkana, Texas. At age 12, his mother moved him to Detroit to live with her and his new stepfather Edgar, and he began using his mother's last name at this time.

Williams became interested in music as a teenager and put together a number of singing groups, among them Otis Williams and the Siberians, the El Domingoes, and the Distants. The Distants had a local hit, co-written by Williams and manager/producer Johnnie Mae Matthews, called "Come On," with lead vocals by Richard Street. Future Distants recordings were not as successful, and after an offer from Berry Gordy of Motown Records, Williams and his friends/bandmates Elbridge "Al" Bryant and Melvin Franklin quit The Distants. Williams, Bryant, and Franklin later joined Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams (no relation to Otis), formerly of the Primes, to create the Elgins, who signed to Motown in March 1961 as the Temptations.

The Temptations eventually became the most successful act in black music over the course of its nearly five-decade existence, over which time notable singers such as David Ruffin, Dennis Edwards, former Distant Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, Ali-Ollie Woodson, Theo Peoples, Ray Davis and G.C. Cameron have all been members. In fact, the group's lineup changes were so frequent, stressful and troublesome that Williams and Melvin Franklin promised each other they would never quit the group. Franklin remained in the group until in 1994 he was physically incapable of doing so, and Williams is still in the group to this day. With Franklin's death on February 23, 1995, at the age of 53, Otis Williams is the last surviving original member of the Temptations quintet.

Williams is the co-author, with Patricia Romanowski, of Temptations, a 1988 book that served as both his autobiography/memoirs and a history of the group. In 1998, Temptations was later adapted into a NBC television miniseries, The Temptations. Over the years fan opinion of Williams has been mixed, with some criticizing him for what they perceive as jealous insults against his former bandmates in his books while others defend him for simply trying to be honest about the problems that the group suffered.

Although he has served the longest tenure in the Temptations, Williams very rarely sings lead, focusing instead on his role as the group's leader and organizer, and as the background "tenor in the middle." The Smokey Robinson-penned "Don't Send Me Away" on The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul (1967) is a rare showcase for Williams singing lead. In the past, Williams has been romanticaly linked with Patti LaBelle and Supremes singer Florence Ballard.