The lead singer of the band Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, Maurice Williams, has died. He was 86 years old.
That singer had a hit song called “Stay,” which was in the movie “Dirty Dancing” in 1987.
The public still doesn’t know what caused the death.
Emily, Maurice’s wife, which he lived with in Charlotte, North Carolina, is still alive.
MAURICE’S JOB
This R&B singer was born in Lancaster, South Carolina. When he was in his teens, he formed his first group, The Royal Charms.
In 1957, the group, which was called The Diamonds at the time, had their first big hit, “Little Darlin.”
He changed the name of the band to Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs in 1959.
Stay In was their doo-wop classic. It was the shortest No. 1 song on the Billboard singles chart when it came out in 1960.
Herald Records put out the album Stay out of New York City and distributed it across the country.
According to Maurice, the band “made a lot of records on local labels around home that none of them worked and they were produced by the same two guys from Lancashire High School who produced the talent show.”
“They recorded Stay and they took Stay to New York, with some more songs and they shopped them up there,” said he.
“The song that defines me is Stay.”
Also, Maurice said that he sang the falsetto part of the song at first, but found Shane Gaston to do it instead.
“When I wrote it, I originally sang it, but when we recorded it, I said we need somebody, because I don’t have a good falsetto,” said Maurice.
“I heard Shane Gaston sing in Charlotte and when I went to Charlotte, I got him to audition with the group, to sing it and to record it with us.”
“He said he would do it and then he joined the group,” said he.
Some of the group’s other hits are “May I,” “Come Along,” “Being Without You,” and “I Remember.”
The Vocal Group Hall of Fame made Maurice a member in 2007.
Three years later, he was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.
Maurice’s long and successful career lasted more than 60 years and made him a pioneer of rhythm and blues.
