Temptations Singer Otis 'Damon' Harris Dead at 62

Richard Street, Melvin Franklin, Otis Williams, Dennis Edwards and Damon Harris of the Temptations.

Otis "Damon" Harris, a singer with the Temptations who joined the group in the 1970s, died on Monday at the age of 62, the Baltimore Sun reports. A family spokesman told the paper that Harris had been fighting prostate cancer for 14 years.

Harris grew up in Baltimore and was a fan of the Temptations as a teenager. Along with three high school friends, he formed a Temptations cover band called the Young Tempts, which changed its name to the Young Vandals after releasing their first singles on the Isley Brothers' T-Neck label. In 1971, he auditioned to join his idols when one of the original lead singers, Eddie Kendricks, left the band. Since the group already had one Otis in founding member Otis Williams, Harris changed his first name to Damon.

100 Greatest Artists: The Temptations

Harris sang lead vocals on several Temptations hits, including "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," "Take a Look Around" and "Masterpiece." The group won three Grammy awards with Harris on board as first tenor. In 1975, Harris left the Temptations and rejoined his high school friends, now renamed Impact. The group recoorded two disco and funk albums, Impact and The Pac is Back and scored a hit with their 1976 track "Give a Broken Heart a Break." In 1978, Harris released a solo album titled Silk, before retiring from music to finish college.

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Damon Albarn: Blur, Gorillaz Are Over

Damon Albarn of Gorillaz performs at Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.

Damon Albarn has told The Guardian that Blur's Olympics-closing concert at London's Hyde Park may be the band's final gig. When asked whether the quartet has plans to play shows after that gig, Albarn said "No, not really," and went on to say "I hope that's the truth and that that's how we end it." The singer also said that "Under the Westway," a new stand-alone single recorded by the band in one take, is very likely the final studio recording by the band. "I don't really see any more recordings after this," says Albarn. "So it's nice to have finally done one song where we did it properly."

Albarn's comments about Blur's future lack some finality in part because he says things rarely go according to plan. "One thing I've learned, and I'm sure you're exactly the same, is that everything I think I've got totally sorted out, and I know exactly what's going to happen, it never works out that way," he says.

According to Albarn, part of the trouble of continuing on as a band comes down to finding it difficult to play with Blur's rhythm section. "I find it very easy to record with [guitarist] Graham [Coxon]," he says. "He's a daily musician. With the other two, it's harder for them to reconnect. You know what I mean? It's fine when we play live – it's really magical still – but actually recording new stuff, and swapping musical influences, it's quite difficult." The group had been slowly writing and recording new material over the past few years, but only the one-off singles "Fool's Day" and "Under the Westway" were completed and released in that time.

Albarn also cast some doubt on the future of Gorillaz, saying that the group's future is "unlikely" following a disagreement with his collaborator on the project, artist Jamie Hewlett. "Jamie [thinks Gorillaz is finished], which is fair enough. I think we were at cross purposes somewhat on that last record, which is a shame. So until a time comes when that knot has been untied," he says. As Albarn puts it, his rift with Hewlett began when the artist did not provide much new art for the tour in support of their 2009 album Plastic Beach. "The music and the videos weren't working as well together, but I felt we'd made a really good record, and I was into it. So we went and played it."

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Damon Albarn: Blur, Gorillaz Are Over

Damon Albarn of Gorillaz performs at Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.

Damon Albarn has told The Guardian that Blur's Olympics-closing concert at London's Hyde Park may be the band's final gig. When asked whether the quartet has plans to play shows after that gig, Albarn said "No, not really," and went on to say "I hope that's the truth and that that's how we end it." The singer also said that "Under the Westway," a new stand-alone single recorded by the band in one take, is very likely the final studio recording by the band. "I don't really see any more recordings after this," says Albarn. "So it's nice to have finally done one song where we did it properly."

Albarn's comments about Blur's future lack some finality in part because he says things rarely go according to plan. "One thing I've learned, and I'm sure you're exactly the same, is that everything I think I've got totally sorted out, and I know exactly what's going to happen, it never works out that way," he says.

According to Albarn, part of the trouble of continuing on as a band comes down to finding it difficult to play with Blur's rhythm section. "I find it very easy to record with [guitarist] Graham [Coxon]," he says. "He's a daily musician. With the other two, it's harder for them to reconnect. You know what I mean? It's fine when we play live – it's really magical still – but actually recording new stuff, and swapping musical influences, it's quite difficult." The group had been slowly writing and recording new material over the past few years, but only the one-off singles "Fool's Day" and "Under the Westway" were completed and released in that time.

Albarn also cast some doubt on the future of Gorillaz, saying that the group's future is "unlikely" following a disagreement with his collaborator on the project, artist Jamie Hewlett. "Jamie [thinks Gorillaz is finished], which is fair enough. I think we were at cross purposes somewhat on that last record, which is a shame. So until a time comes when that knot has been untied," he says. As Albarn puts it, his rift with Hewlett began when the artist did not provide much new art for the tour in support of their 2009 album Plastic Beach. "The music and the videos weren't working as well together, but I felt we'd made a really good record, and I was into it. So we went and played it."

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