Temptations singer dies at 62

February 26, 2013

The Temptations perform at half-time as the San Antonio Spurs take on the Detroit Pistons at the 2005 NBA Finals on June 14, 2005 in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Otis "Damon" Harris, who as first tenor of the Motown ensemble The Temptations sang on such 1970s hits as "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," has died at the age of 62, US news media reported Monday

AFP - Otis "Damon" Harris, who as first tenor of the Motown ensemble The Temptations sang on such 1970s hits as "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," has died at the age of 62, US news media reported Monday.

Prostate cancer was the cause of death, a family spokesman told the Sun newspaper in Harris's hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.

Harris joined The Temptations in 1971 when he was 21 and the group was looking for a new tenor. He stayed on for four years, during which time it won four Grammy awards -- including three for "Papa."

He took the stage name Damon to avoid confusion with Otis Williams, who to this day remains leader of the chart-topping group and its only surviving founding member.

Later in life Harris devoted himself to the fight against cancer, establishing his own non-profit foundation to raise awareness of the illness among African-American men even as he battled it himself.