This page is a chronology of the Motown singing group the Temptations. It lists the members of the group during all phases of the group's history. While the Temptations have frequently changed their lineup, the group has always employed a person for each of the following roles:
During their live performances, the 1st tenor who almost exclusively performs in falsetto and secondary leads have always been as predominant on stage as the group's official main lead/front man. Also, the 1st tenor position is always considered equal to the main lead position on studio recordings as well; the secondary lead was elevated to almost the same status in the studio from 1968 to 1972 and from 1993 onward.
The background/occasional lead role was originally that of another secondary lead singer before 1961.
The group has performed as a quintet throughout its history, with six exceptions:
Since 1976, the name "the Temptations" has been a registered trademark definitively owned by Otis Williams and (the estate of) Melvin Franklin.[1][2]
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| (1957–1958) |
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| (1958–1960) |
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| (1958–1959) |
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| (1959) |
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| (1959) |
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| (1959–1960) |
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| (1960–1961) |
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| (1960–1963) |
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| (1964–1968) |
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| (1968–1971) |
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| (1971) |
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| (1971) |
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| (1971) |
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| (1971–1975) |
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| (1975–1977) |
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| (1977–1980) |
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| (1980–1982) |
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| (1982) |
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| (1982–1983) |
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| (1983–1984) |
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| (1984–1987) |
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| (1987–1989) |
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| (1989–1992) |
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| (1992–1994) |
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| (1995) |
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| (1996–1997) |
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| (1997–1998) |
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| (1998–2003) |
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| (2003) |
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| (2003–2007) |
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| (2007–2015) |
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| (2016–2019) |
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| (2019–2020) |
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| (2020–2021) |
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| (2021–2022) |
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| (2022–present) |
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