What Happened to The Temptations Members? Inside Their Lives After the Original Band Split
What Happened to The Temptations Members? Inside Their Lives After the Original Band Split
Francesca GarianoSat, March 7, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC
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The Temptations circa 1970Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
It’s been well over six decades since The Temptations hit the music scene in Detroit.
The famed Motown band formed in 1961 after members of two disbanded groups, The Distants and The Primes, formed a new collective. First, they were called The Elgins, but would eventually become The Temptations. Founding members of the now legendary group included Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, Eddie Kendricks and Elbridge "Al" Bryant.
Over the decades, The Temptations have cycled through more than a dozen different members, with the current lineup still featuring Williams, who never ventured off solo. Today, the group also includes lead singer Ron Tyson, who joined in 1983, Terry Weeks, who joined in 1997, Tony Grant, who joined in 2021, and Broadway star Jawan M. Jackson, who joined the following year in 2022.
The Temptations made it big with tunes including “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” “Get Ready,” "Ain't Too Proud to Beg,” “Papa Was A Rollin' Stone” and more. In 1989, several members of The Temptations were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including all five founding members, as well as David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards, who joined as lead singers later on.
The group’s debut album, Meet the Temptations, which included their mega-hit, “My Girl,” hit a milestone in 2024 as it celebrated its 60th anniversary. Speaking to PEOPLE in April 2024, Williams reflected on the group’s legacy.
“I hope that it'll still be loved as it is 60 years at this present time," he said. "And I think it will be."
So what happened to the original members of The Temptations? Here’s everything to know about where the founding and most notable members of the group are today.
Otis Williams
Otis Williams in April 1972; Otis Williams of The Temptations performs at Pickering Casino Resort on December 28, 2024 in Pickering, Ontario.Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty; Mathew Tsang/Getty
Williams has been the longest tenured member of The Temptations, performing with the group since its inception in 1961.
Speaking to The Guardian in July 2019, Williams looked back at his decades-long career and how he feels about performing today. At the time, he explained, “Here I am, 77 years old and I’m enjoying my life as if I’m 27. I am profoundly blessed to be doing what I’m doing 59 years later.”
Williams also reflected on the staying power of the group’s music amid the tragic losses The Temptations have faced over the years.
“This music is so lasting that even when we are no longer here, it’ll still be loved," he said. "It’s undeniable and also something I would have never imagined.”
Melvin Franklin
Melvin Franklin in April 1972; Melvin Franklin in 1994.Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty; Tom Rodriguez/Shutterstock
Franklin was one of the founding members of the legendary Motown group and, alongside Williams, was the only other member who never left the group.
The singer performed with The Temptations from 1961 up until his death in 1995 at age 52. He died from heart failure after a series of seizures, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Paul Williams
Paul Williams poses for a portrait in 1965 in New York City.Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Though Williams was a founding member of The Temptations, he left the group in 1971. Williams’ departure was due to private health issues, including sickle cell disease, per the Sickle Cell Association Of America.
Tragically, Williams died just two years after his departure in August 1973 from a fatal gunshot wound at age 34. The Detroit Free Press reported that his death was ruled an apparent suicide.
The Temptations remembered Williams on Facebook in July 2023 on what would have been his 84th birthday. The post called him “a star” and “a creative force in the group.”
“He was always thinking about ways to make The Temptations look better, sound better, move better--be better,” the post continued. “A phenomenal showman, Paul planned our shows and gave us our original moves. The reaction Paul got with any of his show stopping performances was equal to none.”
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Elbridge "Al" Bryant
Elbridge Bryant.Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
Elbridge “Al” Bryant was a founding member of The Temptations in 1961, though he left the band after two years in 1963 and was replaced by David Ruffin. Following his departure, Bryant continued to play music. However, he died on Oct. 26, 1975, at age 36.
The Temptations recognized the late musician on what would have been his 84th birthday in September 2023 in a Facebook post signed by Otis Williams and the rest of the group.
“His voice could roam all around up there and blend right back in harmony. It really was something to hear," they wrote. "He would bring the house down when he’d come in with one of those parts on stage. He was a phenomenal vocalist.”
Eddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks poses for a portrait circa 1965; Eddie Kendricks in 1988.Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty; Cathy Blaivas/ABC via Getty
Kendricks was with the group from the beginning up until his departure in 1971. Otis Williams reflected on Kendricks’ time in the band during a March 2012 interview with The Guardian.
“At the time, Eddie Kendricks, the band's lead singer, and I weren't getting on," he explained. "That's how it is in a group. You have personality clashes. He wanted to go solo, take control of his own destiny.”
Kendricks reunited with the group after a decade, along with Ruffin, for the group’s 1982 album Reunion, but the moment was short-lived. After they began to tour, Rolling Stone reported in March 2019 that the group began to crumble behind the scenes.
Kendricks was affected as he struggled to hit his high notes due to damaged vocal cords from smoking. Eventually, Williams scrapped the reunion tour lineup, and Kendricks and Ruffin were out again.
Kendricks died on Oct. 5, 1992, at age 52, per The Baltimore Sun. According to a spokesperson from Baptist Medical Center-Princeton in Birmingham, Ala., he died of lung cancer after being hospitalized nearly two weeks earlier.
David Ruffin
David Ruffin poses for a portrait in 1965 in New York City; David Ruffin performs in Philadelphia, Penn., July 13, 1985.Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; Paul Natkin/Getty
Ruffin replaced Bryant in The Temptations in 1964, though he was kicked out of the group a short four years later in 1968 due to rising tensions and his struggle with cocaine.
Williams spoke about that tumultuous period of the group with The Guardian in July 2019, explaining at the time, “We started letting matter what shouldn’t matter. Egos and drugs got in the way.”
After his time in the band, Ruffin — the younger brother of famed singer Jimmy Ruffin — went on to release a myriad of solo albums, which featured several successful songs, including "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" and "Walk Away from Love.”
He briefly rejoined The Temptations in 1982 alongside Kendricks, but the reunion was short-lived, and Ruffin was ousted after continuing to struggle with a crack addiction and missing a number of shows, per Rolling Stone.
Ruffin would go on to die of a cocaine overdose in June 1991 when he was 50.
Dennis Edwards
Dennis Edwards in April 1972; Dennis Edwards of The Temptations attends the 24th Annual Heroes And Legends Awards at Beverly Hills Hotel on Sept. 22, 2013 in Beverly Hills, Calif.Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty; Paul Redmond/WireImage
Edwards replaced Ruffin in 1968 and continued as a member of the band through 1976. He would later rejoin the band twice in the 1980s, per Rolling Stone.
During his time away from The Temptations, he explored his solo career, releasing several albums of his own. In the 1990s, he began touring as a tribute act of The Temptations. Later, he toured as Temptations Review Featuring Dennis Edwards.
The lead vocalist of The Temptations died on Feb. 1, 2018, at age 74 in Chicago from complications from meningitis, Rolling Stone reported. He was survived by his wife, Brenda, and six children.
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