The Spinners’ Henry Fambrough, whose rich baritone and charismatic stage presence helped lead the R&B/soul group to musical heights, died Wednesday of natural causes. He was 85.
Fambrough was the last surviving member of the Spinners’ founding lineup, and he was on hand in November for the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in New York. Fambrough and the Detroit-based group were also honored in a series of hometown events last May, including a celebratory weekend at the Motown Museum.
“He got to experience those accolades. He was able to bask in the accomplishment, and that was something he was really happy about,” Spinners spokeswoman Tanisha Jackson told The Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. “He was glad to represent the ones who had gone before him.”
Fambrough, a U.S. Army veteran, entered hospice care in late January, a group representative told the Detroit Free Press, and he passed away at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Herndon, Virginia. After seven decades with the Spinners, he retired from the group in early 2023, moving to Virginia from his longtime Michigan home with his wife, Norma Fambrough.