Bruce Williamson, the former lead singer of The Temptations, has died. He was 49.
The singer passed away Sunday night (Sept. 6) at his home in Las Vegas after a battle with COVID-19, according to TMZ. Further details about his death were not available at press time.
“There’s no words in the world that can express how I feel right now,” Williamson’s son, Bruce, wrote on Facebook. “I love you Daddy thank you for being awesome thank you for being loving thank you for being Who You Are I pray to God and we will meet again,”I love you Daddy R.I.H KING WILLIAMSON.”
A native of Compton, Calif., Williamson joined The Temptations in 2006 and continued singing with the iconic Motown group until 2015. In addition to appearing with the act for concert and television performances, Williamson was also featured on Temptations albums Back to Front (2007) and Still Here (2010).
In 2013, Williamson told Las Vegas Black Image that Temptations member Ron Tyson groomed him for over a decade to become a member of the group, but founding member Otis Williams was initially against the idea “because he thought I was too big and too young.”
But Williamson “never lost the dream of wanting to be a Temptation,” he said in a 2016 interview with Chapter & Verse Network. “But I didn’t want to be an imitation or one who impersonates my predecessors. I wanted to be myself.”
