Motown singer Jimmy Ruffin, RIP

Motown lost one of it’s great voices: Jimmy Ruffin, who died at a Las Vegas hospital on Monday (11/17) at age 78.

Ruffin’s most enduring hit has to be 1966’s “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted,” with its majestic, stately rhythm and Ruffin’s deeply soulful, sorrowful vocal. He followed up that Top 10 hit with “I’ve Passed This Way Before” in 1967. In 1980 he enjoyed a comeback hit with “Hold on to My Love.”

Ruffin was born May 7, 1936 in Collinsville, Mississippi, the older brother of singer David Ruffin. The brothers made their way north, eventually settling in Detroit, where each (separately) ended up signing with Motown Records, Jimmy as a solo artist and David as one of the Temptations. – [Detroit News]

Jimmy’s brother (and Temptations member) David Ruffin died in 1991 at age 50.

Rest in peace, Jimmy. Your voice and songs live on. Check out a few songs below…

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