Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr was an American singer and songwriter best known for his Motown singles produced by Norman Whitfield in the 1970s, most notably his hit single War, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Edwin Starr was born Charles Edwin Hatcher on January 21, 1942 in Nashville, Tennessee. His cousins, Roger and Willie Hatcher, were also soul singers. Edwin spent his childhood in Cleveland, Ohio, where he formed his first doo-wop group, the Future Tones, in 1957. After one single, he was drafted into the army for three years, where he went to Europe. After his demobilization, he decided to make a living in music and joined Bill Doggett’s band.

He adopted the stage name Edwin Starr at the suggestion of Doggett’s manager, Don Briggs, and debuted as a solo singer in 1965 on Detroit’s Ric-Tic label. The song that launched his career was Agent Double-O-Soul, a reference to the James Bond films that were very popular at the time. Other early hits included Headline News, Back Street and Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.). These songs were co-written by Edwin himself under the name C. Hatcher.

With Ric-Tic, Edwin Starr wrote Oh, How Happy, which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966 on Shades of Blue (he also released a version with Blinky in 1969), and was the lead singer of the group Holidays, whose song “I’ll Love You Forever” reached No. 12 on the R&B chart.

He recorded several singles at Motown before achieving international success with the song Twenty-Five Miles, co-written with producer Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua. This song reached #6 on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts in 1969.

When Motown owner Berry Gordy became frustrated that smaller labels like Ric-Tic were stealing the company’s success, he bought the label. Many Edwin Starr Ric-Tic songs (later owned by Motown) became popular northern soul classics. Ric-Tic’s first hit, Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.), was re-released in Britain in 1968 (Headline News was the B-side) and did better than the original release in the UK chart, surpassing original 35th place and reaching 11th place.

Edwin Starr’s biggest hit at Motown was the song War, released in 1970. This song was originally performed by the Temptations, but Edwin Starr’s version was much more emotional and combative, and became a protest anthem against the Vietnam War. War sold over a million copies and became Edwin Starr’s first and only number one song on the Hot 100.

After War, Edwin Starr released other successful songs such as Stop the War Now, Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On, Contact, H.A.P.P.Y. Radio and Easin’ In. Edwin Starr moved to England in the 1970s, where he continued to play and live until his death. He died of a heart attack on 2 April 2003 in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire.

Edwin Starr was one of the most prominent soul singers, whose songs also featured peaceful messages against social injustices and war. His voice and style inspired many and his songs became part of music history.