Jimmy Ruffin

Biography Early life Jimmy Ruffin was born in 1936 in Collinsville, Mississippi, to Eli, a sharecropper, and Ophelia Ruffin. As children, the brothers began singing with a gospel group, the Dixie Nightingales.

In 1961, Jimmy became a singer as part of the Motown stable, mostly on sessions but also recording singles for its subsidiary Miracle label, but was then drafted for national service. After leaving the Army in 1964, he returned to Motown, where he was offered the opportunity to join the Temptations to replace Elbridge Bryant. However, after hearing his brother David, they hired him for the job instead His recording of "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" became a major success. The song reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 on the R&B Chart. It also initially reached No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart, rising to No. 4 when it was reissued in the UK in 1974. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" remains Ruffin's best-known song. It was the lead single from his debut album Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten (released as The Jimmy Ruffin Way in the UK), which was released on the Motown's Soul subsidiary label in 1967. Follow-up singles in America were successful, with "I've Passed This Way Before" and "Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got" in late 1966 and early 1967.

Ruffin's second album, Ruff 'n' Ready, was released in 1969. It contained the song "Don't You Miss Me a Little Bit Baby", which made the lower parts of the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 68) and was a Top 30 hit on the R&B Chart, peaking at No. 27. As a solo artist, it would prove to be Ruffin's last significant chart appearance in America for many years, and his last significant charting record for Motown in the US. The song was also released as the B-side to "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" when it was reissued in 1974.

As Ruffin found success in the United States difficult to sustain, he began to concentrate instead on the British market. In 1970, "Farewell Is a Lonely Sound", "I'll Say Forever My Love" and "It's Wonderful (To Be Loved by You)" each made the UK Top Ten, and he was voted the world's top singer in one British poll. This went under the name of The Council Collective and Jimmy appeared with Paul on Radio 1 to say he is involved because his father worked down the mines and "he understands the suffering."

In 1986 he collaborated with the British pop group Heaven 17, singing "A Foolish Thing to Do" and "My Sensitivity" on a 12" EP record. In 1987, Ruffin recorded "Easy Just To Say I Love You", which was written by Peter Marsh, Mae McKenna and Julian Marshall. He took part in recording for Ian Levine's Motown revival label, Motorcity Records, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He recorded duets with both Maxine Nightingale and Brenda Holloway.

Ruffin lived in the area of Las Vegas, Nevada. On October 17, 2014, it was reported that he was gravely ill and had been taken into an intensive care unit at a Las Vegas hospital. He died on November 17, 2014, in Las Vegas, aged 78.

Ruffin is buried at Palm Memorial Park Northwest Cemetery, Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada in the Garden of Eternal Life Section.

Family His siblings were Davis Eli (David), Reada May (Marie), Rosine, and Quincy B (all deceased). His children are Arlet, Philicia, Jimmie Ray (deceased), Jimmy Jr., Ophelia, Camilla and Jimmie Ray Vaughn.

Discography

Sunrise (1980)