The O'Jays

Formed in Canton, Ohio in 1958 by childhood friends Walter Williams and Eddie Levert (who'd moved there from Alabama), the group started as the Triumphs before renaming themselves after Cleveland DJ Eddie O'Jay. Original members included William Powell, Bill Isles, and Bobby Massey. They spent thirteen years as journeymen, recording for various small labels through the sixties with little success. "We were thinking about quitting," Walter Williams admitted decades later. "We'd been at it for over ten years." Williams got his first contract at King Records when he was sixteen, and the group worked the chitlin' circuit relentlessly, performing other people's hit records alongside their own material, always trying to make people aware of their songs whether radio was playing them or not. Their transformation came in 1972 when they signed with Philadelphia International Records. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff pushed them toward more sophisticated material—social commentary and street-level observation replacing simple romance. Back Stabbers made them stars, its title track hitting number one R&B. Then came "Love Train," their biggest hit, reaching number one on both the R&B chart and the Billboard Hot 100. Over the rest of the decade they released eight gold or platinum records, becoming the primary vehicle for many of Gamble and Huff's powerful message songs, bringing socially conscious music to the top of the charts. They recorded a live album in London in 1973 that captured their electrifying stage presence. The group has continued performing into the 2020s, with Williams and Levert still fronting the lineup on their Last Stop on the Love Train farewell tour.

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