Lamont Dozier death: ‘Baby Love’ songwriter and ‘Mr Motown’ dies aged 81

‘Mr Motown’ composer was part of the trio behind many of the The Supremes’ hit singles

Motown legend Lamont Dozier has died aged 81.

The musician was part of the team behind many of The Supremes’ hit singles, including “Baby Love” and “Stop! In The Name Of Love”.

His son Lamont Dozier Jnr announced the sad news on Instagram on Tuesday (9 August), sharing a photo of them captioned: “Rest in Heavenly Peace, Dad!”

A cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

The musician was one third of Holland-Dozier-Holland, the songwriting trio credited with helping to define the Motown sound of the Sixties.

The trio were a songwriting and production team consisting of Dozier and his brothers Brian and Eddie Holland.

They worked for Motown records for five years, composing key singles for bands like Four Tops and The Supremes.

In 1988 the trio were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and then the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Dozier and his brother Brian composed and produced the songs, while Eddie wrote the lyrics.

Tributes have been pouring in for the composer across social media. Simply Red called Dozier “one of the greatest songwriters of all time”.

“Truly privileged to have written 4 songs together- Infidelity, Suffer, Turn It Up and You’ve Got It. Rest well Soul Brother,” they continued in a tweet.

Musician Brandon Williams also paid his respects to the man who “taught me a lot about music”.

“Another man that sat down and taught me a lot about music is gone. The great Lamont Dozier. I’ll never forget meeting and working with him along with the Holland Brothers in 2006,” he said in a Tweet.

“Thank you for all you did for me and for the world at large. You definitely made this place better,” he continued.

DJ Tony Blackburn also paid his respects, writing “how sad” it was that another “music legend” had passed away.

“To me he was Mr Motown. Thanks for writing so many brilliant songs which will be played forever,” he tweeted.