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List of the Temptations band members

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This page is a chronology of the Motown singing group the Temptations. It lists the members of the group during all phases of the group's history. While the Temptations have frequently changed their lineup, the group has always employed a person for each of the following roles:

During their live performances, the 1st tenor who almost exclusively performs in falsetto and secondary leads have always been as predominant on stage as the group's official main lead/front man. Also, the 1st tenor position is always considered equal to the main lead position on studio recordings as well; the secondary lead was elevated to almost the same status in the studio from 1968 to 1972 and from 1993 onward.

The background/occasional lead role was originally that of another secondary lead singer before 1961.

The group has performed as a quintet throughout its history, with six exceptions:

  • The Cavaliers' lineup (1955–57, 4 Members)
  • The Primes' lineup (1958–60, 4 Members, later 3)
  • April – May 1971 (4 Members, No 1st Tenor)
  • The 1982 reunion lineup (7 Members)
  • The later half of 1995, following the departure of Ray Davis (4 Members, No Bass)
  • October 2019 to June 2020 following the departure of Larry Braggs (4 members, Terry Weeks singing lead, no replacement tenor)

Since 1976, the name "the Temptations" has been a registered trademark definitively owned by Otis Williams and (the estate of) Melvin Franklin.[1][2]

The Cavaliers

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The Cavaliers lineup
1955–1957

The Primes

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The Primes lineups
1957–1958
1958–1960

Otis Williams & The Siberians/The El Domingoes

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The Siberians/The El Domingoes lineups
1958–1959
  • Elbridge "Al" Bryant – tenor
  • Otis Williams – baritone
  • James "Pee-Wee" Crawford – tenor
  • Vernard Plain – second tenor
  • Arthur Walton – bass
1959

The Distants

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The Distants lineups
1959
1959–1960

The Elgins

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The Elgins lineup
1960–1961

The Temptations

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  • Members of the classic lineup are in bold.
The Temptations lineups
1960–1963
1964–1968
1968–1971
1971
1971
1971
1971–1975
1975–1977
1980–1982
1982–1983
1977–1980
1982
1983–1984
1987–1989
1984–1987
1989–1992
1992–1994
1995
1996–1997
1997–1998
1998–2003
2003
2003–2007
2007–2015
2016–2019
2019–2020
2020–2021
2021–2022
2022–present

Timeline

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References

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  1. ^ Ex-Temptations Singer Dennis Edwards Loses His Court Battle To Use 'Temptations' Name Archived 11 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine, a January 1999 Jet magazine article via findarticles.com
  2. ^ Williams, Otis and Romanowski, Patricia (1988, updated 2002). Pg. 181.