Major Lance

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Major Lance compilation album

Major Lance (April 4, 1939, Winterville, Mississippi — September 3, 1994, Decatur, Georgia) was an American R&B/Northern soul singer.

[edit] Career

As a child, he relocated to Chicago, attending the same school as Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler. He formed a group, the Floats, and became a featured dancer on local TV.

His 1959 Mercury release, "I Got A Girl", was written and produced by Mayfield, but his career did not take off until he signed with OKeh Records in 1962. Another Mayfield song, "The Monkey Time" (1963), reached number 2 on the R&B charts and number 8 on the corresponding pop listings, and the partnership continued with further hits, including "Um Um Um Um Um Um".

Lance had less success after breaking his relationships with Mayfield and OKeh, releasing records on several record labels into the early 1970s, including Osiris Records, which he set up with Al Jackson. He then moved to England for two years in the 1970s, and after returning to the U.S., served a prison term for cocaine possession.

Lance made few performances after a heart attack in 1987. He died in 1994, at the age of 55, as a result of heart disease.