Philippe Wynne

Detroit vocalist Philippe Wynne began as a gospel singer before attaining superstardom as the lead vocalist for the Spinners in the early '70s. His silky, yet poignant and extremely soulful leads made the Spinners as exciting and consistently successful as any ensemble during the decade. Wynne had previously sung with Bootsy Collins' group the Pacesetters in 1968 and then with James Brown's JB's before joining the Spinners. He stayed with them until 1977, when he signed a solo deal with Cotillion. The Spinners scored six number one R&B hits, six other Top Ten R&B singles, and four Top Ten and one number one pop hit during Wynne's reign as Spinners' lead vocalist. His debut solo LP Starting All Over fared poorly, and Wynne then joined George Clinton's organization. He played with Funkadelic on their "(Not Just) Knee Deep" single, and recorded for Uncle Jam, Sugar Hill, and Fantasy as well as Cotillion. His single "You Ain't Going Anywhere but Gone" for Sugar Hill in 1983 was written and produced by Bunny Sigler. Wynne collapsed and died on stage the next year in Oakland.
© Ron Wynn /TiVo