Otis "Damon" Harris, who as first tenor of the Motown ensemble The Temptations sang on such 1970s hits as "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," has died at the age of 62 died, US news media reported Monday.
Prostate cancer was the cause of death, a family spokesman told the Sun newspaper in Harris's hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.
Harris joined The Temptations in 1971 when he was 21 and the group was looking for a new tenor. He stayed on for four years, during which time it won four Grammy awards -- including three for "Papa."
He took the stage name Damon to avoid confusion with Otis Williams, who to this day remains leader of the chart-topping group and its only surviving founding member.
Later in life Harris devoted himself to the fight against cancer, establishing his own non-profit foundation to raise awareness of the illness among African-American men even as he battled it himself.
Prostate cancer was the cause of death, a family spokesman told the Sun newspaper in Harris's hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.
Harris joined The Temptations in 1971 when he was 21 and the group was looking for a new tenor. He stayed on for four years, during which time it won four Grammy awards -- including three for "Papa."
He took the stage name Damon to avoid confusion with Otis Williams, who to this day remains leader of the chart-topping group and its only surviving founding member.
Later in life Harris devoted himself to the fight against cancer, establishing his own non-profit foundation to raise awareness of the illness among African-American men even as he battled it himself.
