Lamont Dozier was born Lamont Herbert Dozier on June 16, 1941, in Detroit, Michigan. He attended Poe Elementary School on the cityโs west side and wrote his first lyrics, โA Song,โ and composed the piano accompaniment in 1953 at 12. He then attended Hutchins Junior High School from 1954 to 1955 and Northern Senior High School.
Lamont Dozier was married Elizabeth Ann Dozier and later to Barbara Ullman Dozier, who died in 2021. He has seven children: Lamont Dozier, Jr., Michelle Dozier, Michael Dozier, Beau Alexandre Dozier, Paris Dozier and Desiree Dozier.
Dozier began his career at Motown where he was part of the legendary Motown song writing team, Holland, Dozier, and Holland. By the early 1970s, however, Dozier began a career as a solo recording artist. He released his first album, Out Here on My Own in 1973. The album included singles โTrying to Hold on to My Womanโ that peaked at no. 4 R&B and no. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, and โFish Ainโt Bitinโ which also reached no. 4 R&B and no. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. US. The following year, he released his second album, Black Bachย with the hits โLet Me Start Tonite,โ which reached no. 4 R&B and no. 87 on the Hot 100 and โAll Cried Outโ that peaked at no. 41 R&B.
In 1975 Dozier wrote Thatโs My Mama, the theme song for the second season of the TV sitcom of the same name. Two years later in 1977, he released Peddlinโ Music on the Sideย with the hit โGoinโ Back to My Rootsโ that peaked at no. 35 on the Dance chart followed by the album Bittersweet with the cut, โBoogie Business,โ that made it to no. 47 Dance.
A decade later, in 1987, Dozier released the albums Lamont Dozier and Inside Seduction. Both albums reached no. 60 on the R&B album chart. Also, in 1987, from the soundtrack for the filmย Leonard Part 6, Dozier composed the song โWithout You,โ a duet performed by R&B artists Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle. That song was more successful than his own singles. It peaked at no. 8 on the Adult Contemporary, no. 14 R&B, no. 85 in the UK, and 89 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold one million records.
A recipient of numerous awards and honors, in 1989 at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards, Dozier won โBest Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Televisionโ forย Busterย which he shared with Phil Collins for the song โTwo Hearts.โ Dozier was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Nine years later, in 1998, he received the Grammy Trustees Award for significant contributions to music. And in 2002, at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards, he was nominated โBest Traditional R& Vocal Albumโ For โAn American Original.โ
In 2004, Dozier, the composer, released the compilation Reflections of Lamont Dozierย that comprised 12 cover versions of the hit songs he and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland wrote for Motown in the 1960s. They included โI Hear A Symphony,โ โHeatwave,โ Stop! In The Name of Love,โ โBaby Love,โ and โReach Out, Iโll Be There.โ
In 2008, Lamont Herbert Dozier, Sr., was an Artist-in-Residence Professor at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. The following year, 2009, Dozier, along with Brian and Eddie Holland, penned the music and lyrics for the musical stage version ofย First Wives Clubย that included the compositions โ”Forever Came Today,โ โI Can’t Help Myself, ” “Reach Out,โ and “Stop! In the Name of Love.”
Ralph Wiley (1952-2004)