Detroit soul singer J.J. Barnes was active for well over 50 years, recording his earliest singles in 1960 and creating some Northern soul classics while working adjacent to the peak of the Motown explosion. Barnes' biggest charting hit of his own was 1967's "Baby Please Come Back Home," but he recorded countless others, worked in a group with Edwin Starr, wrote songs for Martha and the Vandellas, recorded new material into the '90s, and was performing on-stage months before he died at age 79 in 2022.