Ali-Ollie Woodson, who led The Temptations in the 80s & 90s, dead at 58

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Ali-Ollie Woodson (right) and The Temptations receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sept. 14, 1994

DETROIT — Ali-Ollie Woodson, who led the legendary Motown quintet The Temptations in the 1980s and '90s and helped restore them to their hit-making glory with songs including "Treat Her Like A Lady," has died, a friend said. He was 58.

Woodson died Sunday in southern California after battling cancer, Motown Alumni Association President Billy Wilson said. Wilson said Woodson's wife, Juanita, told him about the death Sunday.

Woodson was not an original member of the group, which had several lineup changes since it started in the 1960s. But he played an integral part in keeping the Temptations from becoming just nostalgia act.

By the early 1980s, the Temptations were no longer posting hit after hit like they did in the 1960s and '70s with classics such as "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," "My Girl," and "I Wish It Would Rain."

The group had lost original members, and Woodson was charged with replacing Dennis Edwards, whose passionate voice defined the group during the 1970s.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/31/ali-ollie-woodson-dead-te_n_595383.html