Lamont Dozier was an American singer, songwriter and producer. He died on Monday at the age of 81 with a net worth of $8 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Until his demise, he defined popular music in the 1960s and wrote songs for The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, Marvin Gaye and Martha and the Vandellas.
He launched his career in music as a singer, performing with various local doo-wop groups like the Romeos and the Voicemasters. He later joined Motown records as an artist, producer, and songwriter, and soon found himself working with brothers Brian and Eddie Holland. Prior to joining Motown records, he recorded a few unsuccessful records for different local labels.
Before he died, he produced and co-wrote 14 number 1 hits on the U.S. Billboard chart and four number 1 songs in the UK. In 1973, he released the album Out Here on My Own as an artist. He subsequently released Black Bach, Love & Beauty, and Right There in 1974, 1976 and 1977 respectively.
In addition, he released Peddlin’ Music on the Side in 1977, Bittersweet in 1979, Working on You in 1981, Lamont in 1981, Bigger Than Life in 1983, Inside Seduction in 1991, and Reflections of Lamont Dozier in 2004. He also co-wrote several hit songs, including “Two Hearts” and “Loco in Acapulco.”
What is more, Dozier has been featured as a member of The Romeos, The Voice Masters, Ty Hunter and La Mont Anthony.
In a 2015 interview with the Guardian, Dozier explained how tough the songwriting process was, working with the Holland brothers as the main songwriting and production team for Berry Gordy’s Motown Records in 1962.
“We’d get there at 9 am and we would sometimes work until 3 am,” he said. “It was blood, sweat and tears. We pounded on the piano and put our ideas down on a little recorder and just worked and worked them out until we came up with things.”
Born in Detroit, Michigan in June 1941, Dozier was the oldest of the five children of Ethel and Willie Dozier, whose families had migrated north from Alabama and Georgia. Dozier’s first marriage, to Ann Brown, ended in divorce. His second marriage in 1969 to Daphne Dumas also ended in divorce. In 1980 he married Barbara Ullman, who died in 2021. He is survived by six children.
His father and mother got married when they were 21 and 14 respectively. According to the Guardian, they settled in Detroit’s Black Bottom district. His father was drafted into the U.S. army but later he couldn’t manage to keep a job for a period of time and so it was Dozier’s mother who fed the family with her earnings from cleaning and cooking.
In 1990, Dozier was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
