Barrett Strong

Barrett Strong (born in West Point, Mississippi, on 5 February 1941 ; died 29 January 2023) was an American singer and songwriter. Amongst the first artists signed to Berry Gordy's Motown label, he is remembered as having the label's first hit (with "Money (That's What I Want)" in 1960) and for co-writing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and many other hit songs. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

It was in the mid-1960s that Strong became a Motown staff lyricist, teaming with producer Norman Whitfield. Together, Strong and Whitfield wrote some of the most successful and critically acclaimed songs ever to be released by Motown, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by both Gladys Knight & the Pips and Marvin Gaye, "War" by Edwin Starr, "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth, and the long line of "psychedelic soul" records by The Temptations, including "Cloud Nine", "I Can't Get Next to You", "Psychedelic Shack", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)", and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", among others. Strong received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for co-writing "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone".