Kell Osborne (March 12, 1939 – January 29, 2012) was an American singer best known as a member of The Primes, a group which would later be known as

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

Early years

Kell Osborne was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

on March 12, 1939, he was raised by his deeply religious stepfather. His stepfather had wanted him to become a minister. However, he decided to be a singer. In 1955 he and his friends

Eddie Kendricks Edward James Kendrick (December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992), better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temp ...

, Paul Williams, and Willy Waller started a singing group known as The Cavaliers, and they began performing in Birmingham. In 1957 Waller left the group, and they were reduced to a trio. In 1958 they left Birmingham to break out into the music business. They settled in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, where Milton Jenkins would become their manager. They later moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, not too long after that Jenkins changed the group's name to The Primes, and they got a spin-off group known as The Primettes, members of that group included Diane (later Diana) Ross,

Florence Ballard Florence Glenda Chapman (''née'' Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number- ...

, Mary Wilson, and Betty McGlown. In 1960 Kell left the group and moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to start a solo career, and as a result the group disbanded, Kendricks, and Williams would go on to become members of

Career

Kell signed with

Lester Sill Lester Sill (January 13, 1918 – October 31, 1994) was a United States record label executive, music publisher and recording artist manager within the West Coast Rock & Roll, West Coast R&B and Surf genres. Sill rose to become the president of ...

and

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s ...

's Trey label, and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

became his producer. He recorded the songs "Bells Of St Mary's", and "That's Alright Baby".

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

picked up the songs for national distribution, they were both a hit in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. Osborne later got out of his contract with the Trey label and signed with Class Records. There he recorded the songs "Chickadee", "Do You Mind", "Would You Laugh", and "Eye Of The Fire". In 1963 he signed with Capitol Records, however, he was drafted that year ending hopes of a future with Capitol. During this time his close friend and fellow soldier Billy Revis became his manager, Osborne recorded the songs "Yaya Yaya", and "Something For The Books". In 1965 his draft was up and he got out of the military. Osborne later signed with

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. There he recorded the song "You Cant Outsmart A Woman". That was the only song to come of this record deal and Osborne left Warner Bros. not too long after. Many labels were interested in Osborne, however, his close friendship with Billy Revis held him back, keeping him from many good opportunities. The ABC label was interested in Osborne but not Revis, so Osborne got out of his management contract with Revis and signed with Mercury Records. But he wasn't very successful there so he left the Mercury label. In 1995 Osborne left the music business and took a job driving buses in order to keep a stable income. He returned in 2005 releasing an album of new material with some initial interest shown by

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. Kell Osborne has made many contributions to music over the years. He died on January 29, 2012.

References

External links

The Kell Osborne Story by Karl White

Kell Osborne at AOL music

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Kell 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American male singers American soul musicians Musicians from Birmingham, Alabama 1939 births 2012 deaths Musicians from Cleveland Musicians from Los Angeles Singers from California Singers from Detroit Loma Records artists 21st-century African-American musicians