Otis Williams

Otis Williams (born Otis Miles Jr.; October 30, 1941) is an American second tenor/baritone singer. He is occasionally also a songwriter and a record producer. Williams is a co-founder and last surviving original member of the Motown vocal group the Temptations, in Texarkana, Texas, to Otis Miles and Hazel Louise Williams. The couple separated shortly after their son's birth. Williams and his friends/bandmates Elbridge "Al" Bryant and Melvin Franklin while Peewee Crawford & Richard Street quit the Distants. Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams from The Primes later joined Williams, Bryant, and Franklin to create the Elgins, who signed to Motown in March 1961 as "The Temptations", after being told another group was already using that name.

Although he has served the longest tenure in the Temptations, Williams rarely sings lead, focusing instead on his role as the group's leader and organizer, and as the background "baritone in the middle". Rare showcases for Williams singing lead include the Smokey Robinson and Eddie Kendricks-written track "Don't Send Me Away" from the LP The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul (1967) and the Norman Whitfield-penned tune "I Ain't Got Nothing" from 1972's All Directions. He also sang the intro to the early group song "Check Yourself" (1961). Perhaps most notably, he performed live lead vocals on "This Guy's in Love with You" from the 1968 albums Live at London's Talk of the Town and Diana Ross & The Supremes Join the Temptations.

Williams has provided non-singing (spoken word) contributions to some Temptation songs, including: "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" (1968, a hit duet with Diana Ross and Eddie Kendricks sharing the lead vocals); "I'm the Exception to the Rule", from the album Sky's the Limit (1971) which features leads from both Eddie Kendricks and Dennis Edwards; during the opening verse of "Masterpiece" (1973); and "For Your Love", which is done in a medley with "You Send Me" (led by Ali-Ollie Woodson) on the For Lovers Only album (1995).

1990s–present

The Temptations lineup changes were so frequent, stressful and troublesome that Williams and Melvin Franklin promised each other they would never quit the group.

Additional works Williams is the co-author, with Patricia Romanowski, of Temptations, a 1988 book that served as both his autobiography and a history of the group. Ten years later, the book was adapted into an NBC television miniseries The Temptations. Williams was portrayed by actor Charles Malik Whitfield.

Personal life Williams married Josephine Rogers in 1961; the couple's son, Otis Lamont Miles, was born the same year. He married his third wife, Arleata "Goldie" Williams (née Carter), in 1983–1997. Arleata Williams' daughter Elan Carter was Playboy'''s Playmate of the Month for June 1994.

Awards and honors In 1989, Williams was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Temptations. He received an honorary doctorate from Stillman College in May 2006.

In popular culture Charles Malik Whitfield portrayed Williams in the 1998 NBC-TV miniseries The Temptations.Aint Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations, a musical based on Williams' memoir The Temptations premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theater in September 2017. Williams was played by Derrick Baskin. The show then reached Broadway's Imperial Theater, opening March 21, 2019. The musical debuted on the West End in the Prince Edward Theatre in 2023.

Discography