Motown hit songwriter Lamont Dozier dies at 81

Pallade Veneta - Motown hit songwriter Lamont Dozier dies at 81

CULTURE 09.08.2022

Motown hit songwriter Lamont Dozier dies at 81 / Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN - AFP

Lamont Dozier, part of the acclaimed songwriting trio behind hits from artists including the Supremes and the Isley Brothers, has died. He was 81 years old.

Change text size:

The artist's son posted Tuesday on Instagram about his father's death, writing "Rest in Heavenly Peace, Dad!" He did not provide details as to the cause of death.

Born in Detroit on June 16, 1941, Dozier found his golden ticket to success in teaming up with the songwriting brothers Brian and Eddie Holland.

Together the writers became the stuff of Motown legend, penning and arranging hits including "Where Did Our Love Go" and "Stop! In The Name of Love" from the Supremes, along with the Four Tops "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)."

For years Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote dozens of singles that jumped onto the top songs chart.

"It was as if we were playing the lottery and winning every time," Dozier wrote in his 2019 autobiography "How Sweet It Is."

The prolific songwriter left the trio in 1973 to focus on a solo career, at one point working with Phil Collins on the hit "Two Hearts" for the 1988 film "Buster."

The song scored both a Golden Globe and a Grammy.

Holland-Dozier-Holland were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, having already nabbed a spot into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame two years prior.

M.Jacobucci--PV

Jersey Boys Anniversary Tour Opens in Birmingham With Gritty Account of Crime and Fame

The 20th-anniversary tour of Jersey Boys has opened at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre, offering a gritty and unvarnished look at the Four Seasons’ journey. The production details the band's turbulent rise from New Jersey petty criminals to international rock stars, highlighting the complex personal costs behind their musical success.

UBC professor describes police call after Galloway remark as act of care

VANCOUVER — A University of British Columbia professor has testified about a colleague’s decision to call police to visit Steven Galloway after he was accused of sexual assault, describing it as an “act of care” toward the author, who had spoken of killing himself. Galloway, who is suing his accuser and others in a defamation trial centred on the unproven allegations, has described his subsequent committal to a hospital in the United States as “terrifying.

Pallade Veneta - Motown hit songwriter Lamont Dozier dies at 81