The Temptations are an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as the Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top 10 hit single "Cloud Nine" in October 1968, pioneered psychedelic soul, and was significant in the evolution of R&B and soul music. The group members were known for their choreography, distinct harmonies, and dress style. Having sold tens of millions of albums, the Temptations are among the most successful groups in popular music.
Featuring five male vocalists and dancers (save for brief periods with fewer or more members), the group's founding members came from two rival Detroit vocal groups: Otis Williams, Elbridge "Al" Bryant, and Melvin Franklin of (Otis Williams &) the Distants, and Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams of the Primes. In 1964, Bryant was replaced by David Ruffin, who was the lead vocalist on a number of the group's biggest hits, including "My Girl" (1964), "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" (1966), and "I Wish It Would Rain" (1967). Ruffin was replaced in 1968 by Dennis Edwards, with whom the group continued to record hit records such as "Cloud Nine" (1968), "I Can't Get Next to You" (1969), and "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" (1970). Kendricks and Paul Williams both left the group in 1971, with subsequent members including Richard Street, Damon Harris, Glenn Leonard, Ron Tyson, and Ali-Ollie Woodson, the last of whom was the lead singer on late-period hit "Treat Her Like a Lady" in 1984 and the theme song for the children's movement program Kids in Motion in 1987.
Over the course of their career, the Temptations released four Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and fourteen R&B number-one singles. The group was the first Motown act to win a Grammy Award – for "Cloud Nine" in 1969 – and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, received in 2013. They won four Grammy Awards in total. The Temptations – specifically Edwards, Franklin, Kendricks, Ruffin, Otis Williams and Paul Williams – were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Three Temptations songs, "My Girl", "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" (1971), and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972), are included among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. The Temptations were ranked No. 68 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2010. In 2023, the group were ranked No. 1 by Billboard magazine on its list of the "100 Greatest R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of All Time".
As of 2026, the Temptations continue to perform with Otis Williams in the lineup, who is the group's last surviving original member. Williams owns the rights to the Temptations name.
Origins: second half of the 1950s
Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams started singing together in church as children in Birmingham, Alabama. By their teenage years, they formed a doo-wop quartet in 1955 with Kell Osborne and Wiley Waller, naming themselves the Cavaliers.
After Waller left the group in 1957, the remaining trio left Birmingham to break into the music business. The group settled in Detroit where they changed their name to the Primes under the direction of Milton Jenkins. The Primes soon became well known around the Detroit area for their meticulous performances. Jenkins later created a sister group, the Primettes, later known as the Supremes. Kendricks was already seen as a "matinee idol" in the Detroit area, while Williams was well received for his baritone vocals.
Meanwhile, concurrently, Texas teenager Otis Williams moved to Detroit as a youngster to be with his mother. By 1958, Williams was the leader of a vocal group named Otis Williams and the Siberians. The group included Elbridge "Al" Bryant, James "Pee-Wee" Crawford, Vernard Plain and Arthur Walton. The band recorded a song, "Pecos Kid" for a label run by radio deejay Senator Bristol Bryant. Shortly after its release, the group changed its name to the El Domingoes. Subsequently, Montgomery native Melvin Franklin replaced Arthur Walton as bass vocalist and Detroit-born Richard Street (claimed by Melvin Franklin to be his cousin) replaced Vernard Plain as lead singer. Signing with Johnnie Mae Matthews' Northern Records, the group had their name changed again to the Distants.
The group recorded two Northern Records singles including "Come On" (1959) and "Alright" (1960). Between these releases, "Come On" became a local hit, and the Warwick Records label picked the record up for national distribution. Following the release of "Alright", Matthews appointed Williams the group leader, and the group's name was changed to Otis Williams & the Distants. During this period, both the Primes and the Distants were influenced by other vocal groups including the Miracles. Other inspirations included the Cadillacs, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, the Drifters, and the Isley Brothers. Though "Come On" was a local hit in the Detroit area, the Distants never saw much record sales, and "Alright" was not so successful. After receiving an offer from Berry Gordy to sign with Motown Records, the Distants got out of their contract with Northern Records. However, James "Pee-Wee" Crawford and Richard Street shortly departed from the group and the remaining members lost use of "the Distants" name. Richard Street later formed another 'Distants' band who recorded for the Thelma label in the early 1960s.
Members of the Distants were acquainted with the Primes, as both groups participated in the same talent shows and performed at the same public venues. Friendly rivals, the Primes were considered to be the more polished and vocally stronger group of the two. However, this last group disbanded in 1960 after Kell Osborne moved to California. Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams returned to Alabama following the band's dissolution. While visiting relatives in Detroit, Kendricks called Otis Williams, who desperately needed two more members for an audition for Gordy's label and offered Kendricks a lead singer place in this new group, which would also include fellow former Distants members Franklin and Bryant. Kendricks agreed on the condition he bring Paul Williams with him. Otis Williams happily agreed, and Kendricks and Paul Williams moved back to Detroit to join the new group.
The original name for the new lineup of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Elbridge "Al" Bryant, Eddie Kendricks, and Paul Williams was the Elgins. Under that name, the group auditioned for Motown in March 1961. Already impressed with some of the members after hearing session work, Berry Gordy agreed to sign the group to the Motown imprint, Miracle Records. However, before signing, Gordy discovered another group was using the name of "Elgins". The group began tossing about ideas for a new name on the steps of the Hitsville U.S.A. studio. On a suggestion from Miracle Records employee Billy Mitchell, songwriter Mickey Stevenson, and group members Otis Williams and Paul Williams, the Temptations became the group's new moniker. The Elgins name re-surfaced at Motown in 1965, when Gordy renamed a quartet called the Downbeats as the Elgins.
The Temptations' first two singles, "Oh Mother of Mine" and "Check Yourself", with Paul Williams on lead, were released on Miracle before Gordy closed the label down and reassigned the band to his latest imprint, Gordy Records. On the Gordy imprint, Eddie Kendricks sang lead on the Temptations' first charted single, "(You're My) Dream Come True", which peaked at number 22 on the R&B chart in May 1962. Later that year, the Temptations began touring as part of the Motortown Revue. The group issued eight recordings between 1961 and 1963 without much success.
Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks split the leads during this early period, with Al Bryant, Otis Williams, and Melvin Franklin occasionally singing lead, as they did on a song titled "Isn't She Pretty". For a brief time, the group almost had their name changed to the Pirates, and under that name they recorded the songs "Mind Over Matter" and "I'll Love You Till I Die". Eventually the label and the group decided against it. One hit song, "Do You Love Me", was originally to be recorded by the Temptations. When he couldn't get in contact with the group, Gordy produced a version for the Contours.