Maurice Williams, who was the lead singer of the band Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, died. He was 86 years old.
People knew the singer for his hit song “Stay,” which was in the movie “Dirty Dancing” (1987).
The cause of death has not been made public yet.
He is survived by Emily, his wife, who he lived with in Charlotte, North Carolina.
MAURICE’S WORK
The R&B singer was born in Lancaster, South Carolina. When he was in his teens, he formed his first band, The Royal Charms.
Little Darlin, the group’s first big hit, came out in 1957. At the time, they were called The Diamonds.
He changed the band’s name to Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs in 1959.
Their doo-wop classic “Stay In” became the shortest No. 1 song on the Billboard singles chart when it came out in 1960.
Stay out of New York City was released by Herald Records, which also gave the band national exposure.
That year, Maurice told Riveting Riffs, “the band put out a lot of records on local labels close to home, but none of them did well. 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,” he said.
“Stay is my title song.”
Maurice also 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,” he said.
“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,” he said.
The group also had other hits, like “I Remember,” “May I,” “Come Along,” and “Being Without You.”
Maurice was added to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2007.
He joined the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame three years after that.
Maurice had a very successful career that lasted more than 60 years and made him a pioneer of rhythm and blues.
