JIMMY RUFFIN

James Lee Ruffin was born in Collinsville, Mississippi, on May 7, 1936. His father was a sharecropper. Nearly five years later, his brother David was born. As kids, the siblings sang gospel with a group called the Dixie Nightingales.

By 1961, he was living in Detroit and became involved with Motown. Ruffin was mainly a session singer but also released singles on the Motown subsidiary, Miracle. He was drafted into Army and returned to Detroit upon his discharge in 1964. Motown asked him to replace Eldridge Bryant in the Temptations, but the job went to his brother David instead. As a consolation, Motown signed Jimmy to its Soul subsidiary.

In 1966, he heard an aching ballad written for his labelmates, the Spinners, and persuaded the writers to let him record it instead. “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” became a massive hit, going to #6 on Billboard magazine’s Rhythm & Blues chart and #7 pop. It also hit #8 in the UK and #12 in Canada. His next three singles also did well, but by 1968 Ruffin’s popularity began to wane. In the UK, however, his records continued to sell. “Farewell Is a Lonely Sound,” “I’ll Say Forever My Love,” and “It’s Wonderful (To Be Loved by You)” all made the British top ten in 1969 and ‘70. “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” also did well in England when it was reissued there in 1974.

In 1970, Jimmy and David Ruffin recorded an album together, I Am My Brother’s Keeper. Their remake of Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me” provided Jimmy with his last significant US chart single for a decade.

Jimmy left Motown, recording for both the Polydor and Chess labels. In 1980, he signed with RSO, where Barry Gibb produced his Sunrise album. It produced the single “Hold On To My Love,” marking Ruffin’s return to the top ten after a decade-long absence. He subsequently moved to Great Britain and worked with acts like Heaven 17 and Paul Weller of the Style Council. Ruffin also recorded for Ian Levine’s UK-based Motorcity label, waxing duets with Maxine Nightingale and Brenda Holloway. Ruffin later hosted a British radio show and became an anti-drug advocate when his brother David died of an overdose.

Ruffin ended up living in the Las Vegas area. In October 2014, it was reported that he was gravely ill in the Intensive Care Unit of a local hospital. He died in Las Vegas at age 78 on November 17, 2014.

Charted singles:

“As Long As There Is L-O-V-E Love” (1965) Pop #120
“What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” (1966) R&B #6, Pop #7
“I’ve Passed This Way Before” (1966) R&B #10, Pop #17
“Gonna Give Her All the Love I’ve Got” (1967) R&B #14, Pop #29
“Don’t You Miss Me a Little Bit Baby” (1967) R&B #27, Pop #68
“I’ll Say Forever My Love” (1968) Pop #77
“Don’t Let Him Take Your Love from Me” (1968) Pop #113
“Farewell Is a Lonely Sound” (1969) Pop #104
“Stand by Me” (duet with David Ruffin, 1970) R&B #24, Pop #61
“Maria (You Were the Only One)” (1970) Pop #96
“Tell Me What You Want” (1973) R&B #42
“Fallin’ In Love With You” (1977) Disco #22
“Hold On (To My Love)” (1980) R&B #29, Pop #10
“Turn to Me” (with Maxine Nighingale, 1982) R&B #17