“Stars are blessed and talented people that God uses to shine to help people navigate through the night or the darkness or the evil of the world,” Bishop Larry J. Baylor said as he eulogized Grammy Award winning singer Dennis Edwards at Faith Miracle Temple Sunday evening.
“Dennis Edwards was a star,” Bishop Baylor continued. “With Dennis, the Temptations struck gold in 1968.”
Indeed, he was – and they certainly did. Often referred to as the sixth Temptation, Edwards replaced original lead singer David Ruffin. Though already a super group with international acclaim under the famed Motown label, it was during Edwards’ tenure with the group that they earned their first Grammy Award with 1969’s “Cloud Nine.”
Edwards passed away on Feb. 1 after a lengthy illness stemming from complications of meningitis two days shy of his 75th birthday.
He was born in Alabama and raised in Detroit. But Edwards called the St. Louis area his home. He followed his mother to the region in the 1980s and only recently relocated to Chicago for the sake of medical care during his illness. He was a longtime resident of Florissant.
Bishop Baylor, who was also a spiritual advisor for Edwards and his wife Brenda, recalled his first encounter with Edwards.
“The first time I saw brother Dennis it was at a Sunday morning service at our other location on Lindbergh,” Baylor said. “There was this tall, striking man walked in with a fur coat on. I said, ‘that looks like Dennis Edwards.’ He came and sat and didn’t say much. A little while later, he came back in the same way.”
Bishop Baylor also admitted to a moment of fandom while in the pulpit.
“I said, ‘I’ve got to do it this time. Mr. Edwards, would you mind singing a song for us?’” Bishop Baylor continued. “He got up, gave his testimony and sang one of those old-fashioned church songs. He wrecked that place. I said to myself, ‘this man is something else.’”
As he was remembered Sunday, family, friends and members of his Temptations Review shared similar sentiments.
“He had a stage presence that demanded your attention,” Marshall Thompson of The Chi Lites said in a note read by Temptations Review member Chris Arnold. “Not merely a singer, his talent and showmanship afforded him the rights of an artist. We are heartbroken, but the memories will linger forever. He wrote his own story and left a great legacy.”
The group he performed with for 27 years sang “A Song For You,” in tribute to Edwards’ well-received remake of Leon Russell’s R&B standard made famous by St. Louis native Donny Hathaway.
“When he sang ‘I been so many places,’ Dennis really had been there,” William Edwards said when he spoke on behalf of the family. “I used to laugh at him when he used to tell me, ‘When I get to be a star, you’re going with me.’ And I would be like, ‘yeah, right.’ I didn’t know that star was going to soar so high.”
Before joining The Temptations, Dennis Edwards was a member of the legendary gospel group The Mighty Clouds of Joy.
“If there was anything that Dennis could do, Dennis could sing,” William Edwards said. “He could sing with the best of them.”
His gruff, powerful and distinctive tenor voice can be heard on some of the Temptations’ signature hits. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” “Can’t Get Next to You,” “Ball of Confusion,” “Cloud Nine” were among them.
Otis Williams, The Temptations’ founding member and last surviving original group member was among those who came to pay their respects.
“I watched him put on his first suit to go audition for his first show and I can say that Dennis wouldn’t want everybody sad tonight, because Dennis has been everywhere. Dennis did everything,” William Edwards said.
He left the group in 1977 and returned in 1980. He ventured out with a solo career in 1984. The same year he scored a massive R&B hit with “Don’t Look Any Further,” a duet with Siedah Garrett.
According to his life reflections, Dennis Edwards earned 14 gold albums, six platinum records, seven Grammy Awards (including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Honor). In 1989, Edwards was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Temptations. Edwards was also inducted into Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame with The Temptations in 2013.
He toured and performed with The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards for 27 years. He was again inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame as part of the Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards in 2015.
“There ain’t too much happening out here – especially in the music world – that Dennis didn’t do,” William Edwards said. “If you want Dennis, just turn on a record player. Just put on a CD.”
