LaMonte McLemore, co-founder of The Fifth Dimension, has passed away. He was 90.
According to the Associated Press, McLemore passed on Tuesday at his home in Las Vegas. He was surrounded by family, his representative Jeremy Westby said in a statement. After having a stroke several years ago, he died of natural causes.
”All of us who knew and loved him will definitely miss his energy and wonderful sense of humor,” said Marilyn McCoo, fellow 5th Dimension co-founder. and Davis, who married in 1969, said in a statement.
Born in St. Louis, McLemore served in the Navy as an aerial photographer. A tremendous athlete, he played baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system. Eventually, he began to use his gift of song with his smooth bass voice and cultivated his camera skills.
McLemore sang in a jazz ensemble, the Hi-Fis, that included future 5th Dimension bandmate Marilyn McCoo.
LAUNCHING THE 5TH DIMENSION
Then McLemore, McCoo, and two of his childhood friends from St. Louis, Billy Davis Jr. and Ronald Towson, formed a singing group called the Versatiles. After recruiting Florence LaRue, they became the 5th Dimension in 1965.
Their breakthrough hit “Up, Up and Away” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967. The song won four Grammys, including record of the year and best performance by a vocal group.
The next year, they released “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Sweet Blindness.” But they catapulted into global superstars with their classic “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” After being No. 1 for several weeks, the song won the Grammy for record of the year.
Although the 5th Dimension were one of the most successful groups of their era, they were the subject of criticism.
“We were constantly being attacked because we weren’t, quote, unquote, ‘Black enough,’” McCoo said in “Summer of Soul.” “Sometimes we were called the Black group with the white sound, and we didn’t like that. We happened to be artists who are Black, and our voices sound the way they sound.”
MCLEMORE WAS AN ACCLAIMED PHOTOGRAPHER.
Along with his success as a singer, McLemore was an acclaimed photographer. He made history as the first Black photographer hired by Harper’s Bazaar. And he shot the cover of Stevie Wonder’s debut album.
For more than 40 years, he worked at Jet magazine, where he shot more than 30,000 photographs. He is the visionary behind the Jet “Beauty of the Week.”
McLemore is survived by his wife of 30 years, Mieko McLemore, daughter Ciara, son Darin, sister Joan, and three grandchildren.