This week the iconic Motown group The Temptations lost 62-year-old former member Damon Harris to prostate cancer after a 14-year-long battle.
Harris was the youngest member of the R&B group, joining at the age of only 20 years old in 1971 after Eddie Kendricks left the band. Harris was asked to join the Temptations after forming a successful Temptations tribute band called The Young Tempts (also known as The Young Vandals). Harris’ influence can be found on hit Temptations songs such as “Take A Look Around” and “Love Woke Me Up This Morning,” but he ended up being cast out of the group in 1975.
Refusing to give up on his career, after parting ways with The Temptations, Harris reunited with The Young Vandals (then called Impact) and released disco hits like “Give a Broken Heart a Break,” and “Happy Man.”
As well as a musician, Harris founded the Damon Harris Cancer Foundation in 2001 devoted to awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of prostate cancer. Harris will live in through both his music and his altruistic contributions in the field of medicine.
