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Richard Street of The Temptations Dead at Age 70

Posted Feb 28th 2013 10:56AM by Paul Cantor
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The Temptations Echoes, Redferns

Richard Street, a member of legendary Motown Records group The Temptations, died early Wednesday morning (Feb. 27) at a hospital in Las Vegas. He was 70.

"He was really fighting for his life," his wife Cindy told CNN. "He's a fighter. They're dancing up there in heaven, him and Damon. I'm in disbelief right now."

She's referring to Damon Harris, another member of The Temps, who passed away last week.

Street officially joined the group in 1971, replacing Paul Williams, for whom he was already singing vocals for from off-stage, while Williams lip-synched.

Prior to that, he worked in Motown's quality control department and also sang in other groups like the Distants and the Monitors, which included future members of the Temptations.

"He was part of black history," said his wife. "He was always proud of that. He sang on a lot of those classic songs: 'Papa Was a Rollin' Stone,' 'Hey Girl,' 'Heavenly,' 'Superstar,' 'Masterpiece.'"

According to his wife, Street was troubled by back pain and had difficulty breathing last Friday (Feb. 22). Once in the hospital, doctors found a clot in his lung.

Though he left the Temptations in the early 90s, Street continued on stage, reportedly performing 45 dates in Europe just last Fall.

Watch The Temptations "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" Video