Fans of the Temptations are in mourning this week after the death of Bruce Williamson, who died Sunday night at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada from complications of COVID-19. He was 49 years-old.
Williamson’s death was confirmed by his son Bruce, who paid tribute to his dad on Facebook.
“There’s no words in the world that can express how I feel right now 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,” he wrote. “R.I.H KING WILLIAMSON.”
Williamson joined The Temptations in 2006, performing with the group for nine years before leaving to launch a solo career in 2015. He was scheduled to perform at a pay-per-view concert at the end of the week. Prior to his death, the singer was also reportedly working on a gospel project titled “Send the Rain.”
Williamson always said that joining The Temptations had been his lifelong dream before he became part of the group.
“I never lost the dream of wanting to be a Temptation,” he told the Chapter & Verse Network back in 2016. “But I didn’t want to be an imitation or one who impersonates my predecessors. I wanted to be myself.”
During his time with the group, Williamson sang lead on the albums “Back to the Front” and “Still Here.”
While reviewing a seven-night Broadway production featuring The Temptations in 2014, the New York Times described Williamson as “a find: a large man who’s light on his feet and, even more important, full-throated with gospel timing.”
“He had multiple paths from croon to rasp, and he could sound simultaneously forceful and desperate,” The Times reported.
One year before that, Williamson told Las Vegas Black Image Magazine that he grew up singing in churches in Compton, California, which helped him get in tune with his soulful roots at a young age.
“After seven years as a Temptation I am still in awe,” he said. “I can remember the first time I performed with the group: at a millionaire’s private birthday party, on a small stage that was erected on his tennis courts.”
This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.
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