One of the many unsung figures behind the powerhouse that was Motown Records in the ’60s, Barrett Strong wasn’t just the voice you hear on the oft-covered “Money (That’s What I Want)”; he also went on to write some of the label’s—and the era’s—biggest songs. Strong was one of the first artists to be signed to Berry Gordy’s pre-Motown label, Tamla. But by the mid-’60s, alongside writer Norman Whitfield, Strong had writing credits on Marvin Gaye's “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, Edwin Starr's “War”, The Undisputed Truth’s “Smiling Faces Sometimes” and then later in the decade, The Temptations’ best-known psychedelic soul numbers. When Motown moved from Detroit to Los Angeles in the early ’70s, Strong parted ways with the label and continued to record his own music for Epic and Capitol Records. After a 30-year recording hiatus, he released Stronghold II in 2008. He died in January 2023 at the age of 81.