Maurice Williams, lead singer of the band Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, passed away. His age was eighty-six.
The hit song “Stay” by that vocalist appeared in the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing.”
The cause of the death is still a mystery to the public.
Maurice still lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he shared a home with his wife, Emily.
MAURICE’S OPERATION
The birthplace of this R&B vocalist is Lancaster, South Carolina. He founded The Royal Charms, his first band, when he was in his teens.
“Little Darlin,” the group’s first major song, came out in 1957. At the time, they were known as The Diamonds.
In 1959, he renamed the group as Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs.
Their doo-wop classic was Stay In. When it was released in 1960, it was the shortest song to reach number one on the Billboard singles chart.
The album Stay out of New York City was released by Herald Records and was distributed throughout the nation.
Maurice claims that the band “made a lot of records on local labels around home, and the guys who produced the talent show also produced them, so none of them worked.”
He claimed, “They recorded Stay, took it to New York, and shopped them up there with some more songs.”
“Stay is the song that best describes me.”
Maurice added that he originally performed the song’s falsetto section, but Shane Gaston ended up covering it.
Maurice remarked, “I sang it when I wrote it, but when we recorded it, I said we need somebody, because I don’t have a good falsetto.”
“When I went to Charlotte, I got Shane Gaston to audition with the group, sing it, and record it with us after hearing him sing.”
“He joined the group after saying he would do it,” he claimed.
The songs “May I,” “Come Along,” “Being Without You,” and “I Remember” are among the group’s other hits.
Maurice was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2007.
He was admitted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame three years later.
Maurice was a pioneer of the rhythm and blues thanks to his extensive and prosperous career, which spanned more than 60 years.