(RepublicanView.org) – The last remaining original member of the R&B group The Spinners has died at the age of 85. Henry Fambrough died peacefully from natural causes at his Virginia home, a spokesperson said. Fambrough, along with bandmates Billy Henderson, Pervis Jackson, Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne, and John Edwards, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last November in recognition of major hits, such as “It’s a Shame” and “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love.”
Throughout the band’s long career, it achieved six Grammy Award nominations and earned 18 platinum and gold albums. Formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1954, the group was originally known as The Domingoes but signed with the famous Motown Records label ten years later as The Spinners.
Born in Detroit in 1938, Fambrough served in the US Army prior to his singing career, where he was one of three lead singers. After seven decades, he retired from the group last April, and by January 2024, he was receiving care in a Detroit hospice.
According to USA Today, Spinners bass singer Jessie Peck, who became a part of the band in 2008, said, “As a performer, he was always consistent. He set the standard for the rest of us about how the Spinners should be: always on point, with every step.”
Warm tributes to the singer were posted to social media following his death, with some people writing that his loss is a loss for black America. “His contribution to Black American music is unparalleled and he represented our lineage with class and dignity,” one user wrote on X.
The last member of the group to die was Bobby Smith in 2013. He died in Florida, and the cause was explained as complications from pneumonia and influenza, though he had been diagnosed with lung cancer months earlier. Smith took the lead vocal for the band’s first major hit, “That’s What Girls Are Made For,” in 1961. He was 76 years old at the time of his death.
Copyright 2024, RepublicanView.org
