Seeing The Temptations sing together after seven decades in the business is a real feel-good moment! Led by founder Otis Williams, the legendary vocal group gave everyone a nostalgia hit with their smooth performance of their hits on The View. It was great to hear the 83-year-old Williams (second from the left) share that famous golden croon, while longtime members Ron Tyson and Terry Weeks anchored the five-piece lineup.
The Temptations opened the medley with their classics “Get Ready” and “My Girl,” showing off fantastic chemistry with their lush vocal harmonies. The video drew over 2 million views, and the fact that the group can still do major numbers on YouTube 63 years after their 1961 founding says it all. The Music Man has to say that The Temptations’ songs are absolutely timeless, and this medley proved it!
The Temptations appeared on The View on December 18, 2024, as part of their American tour at the time. Fans loved hearing the old favorites again and added comments such as “They showed everyone this day on The View why they are LEGENDARY!” and “Now this is the kind of music I grew up on. I truly still enjoyed The Temptations today in 2024.”
One of the greatest Temptations performances came when the group dropped into The Ed Sullivan Show during their commercial peak. The performance, which aired on May 28, 1967, featured the Classic Five lineup. The group sang a medley of four hits, opening with “Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)” and featuring “My Girl” as the fourth song. The group is absolutely on fire here vocally, and the performance really shows why they put so many hits on the board in the ‘60s!
The Temptations released “My Girl” on December 21, 1964. The tune was written and produced by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White of fellow Detroit vocal group The Miracles. Robinson was engaged to produce a song for The Temptations, and during their collaboration, The Temptations convinced him to let them record “My Girl,” as he had previously intended for his own band to record the song. The Music Man readers might be interested to hear that The Temptations scored their first US number one with “My Girl,” and it became their signature song. “My Girl” has a suitably romantic origin, as Robinson was inspired to write the lyrics by his love for his wife, Claudette Rogers Robinson, who was also a member of The Miracles at the time.