At 81 years old
Motown singer-songwriter Barrett Strong has died
Motown singer-songwriter Barrett Strong has died in Detroit at the age of 81. photo
© Louis Lanzano/AP/dpa
“I Heard It Through The Grapevine”: He penned some of soul’s biggest hits. The Motown Museum mourns the loss of songwriter Barrett Strong.
Motown singer and songwriter Barrett Strong is dead. He died in Detroit at the age of 81, the Motown Museum said on Twitter on Monday. The founder of the music label Motown, Berry Gordy, also confirmed Strong’s death in a statement and praised him as a “great singer and piano player”.
Born in Mississippi in 1941, Strong had worked with Gordy since the 1950s. The song “Money (That’s What I Want)”, sung by Strong, became the pair’s first hit single. Later, Strong found success above all as a songwriter – with hits like “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, “Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)”, “Smiling Faces Sometimes”, “Cloud Nine” or “I Can’ ‘Get Next To You’.