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November 2014 the music industry lost of another great artist and what is disturbing to EarHustle411 and the writing staff is this artist contributed greatly to R&B music.  For him to leave this earth with little to no celebration of his life is very disheartening.  If no one is familiar with the late David Ruffin, they have been truly living under a rock or on another planet.  David Ruffin had an older brother, Motown singer Jimmy Ruffin who died at the young age of 78.  Jimmy’s talent has often been over shadowed by his brother David’s.

 

Music buffs are saying that Jimmy was approached to join The Temptations before his brother was.  Can you imagine if Jimmy had accepted the invitation?  David’s tumultuous life might have been lived very different, who knows?

Reports about Jimmy Ruffin has been circulating for over a while about him being seriously ill and having been admitted into a Las Vegas hospital’s ICU.  The Mississippi born talent moved to Detroit in 1960 and was a session singer on Motown’s subsidiary label Miracle.  His being drafted into the military put his singing on hold and upon completing his military obligation Jimmy Ruffin returned to Detroit and subsequently offered to join The Temptations at that time replacing member Eldridge Bryant.  Unfortunately, after the Temptations heard his younger brother David, the position was offered to him.

Jimmy went back to his original plan and started his solo career and made some noise in this rugged music industry with hits like “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”,  “Gonna Give Her All The Love I’ve Got” and “Hold On (To My Love)”.  Jimmy’s music was as soulful as it was enlightening, with his lyrics speaking from the heart and soul of what a man wants could have been the soundtrack to many a men’s life.  Although Jimmy was a phenomenal singer in his own right, his talents were not as widely honored as his brother David.

When David Ruffin died in 1991 from a drug overdose, his brother Jimmy began to advocate against drug abuse.   After living in the shadows of his brother Jimmy still supported him even after death.  Jimmy Ruffin is, was and always will be a class act.

EarHustle411 remembers Jimmy Lee Ruffin may he Rest in Music Heaven.