Leon Ware

Leon Ware was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. In his teens, he was a member of a vocal group, the Romeos, with Lamont Dozier and Ty Hunter (later of the Originals).[1] After a period at ABC Records he started his career as a songwriter at Motown in 1967.[1] He co-wrote for the Isley Brothers, Martha & the Vandellas and the Jackson 5. In 1971, he collaborated with Ike & Tina Turner, co-writing six songs on their United Artists album, Nuff Said. The album reached the #21 on the Billboard R&B chart and also appeared in the Billboard 200. This led to a contract as a solo artist on United Artists where he released his self-titled debut album in 1972.[2] Around this time, Ware began collaborating with Arthur "T-Boy" Ross, younger brother of Diana Ross. One of the songs they wrote was "I Wanna Be Where You Are" recorded by Michael Jackson for his 1972 album, Got To Be There.[3] The single reached #2 R&B charts and peaked at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.

Ware wrote for numerous artists during this period including Donny Hathaway and The Miracles. In 1974, Quincy Jones booked Ware as songwriter and performer for two songs off Jones' Body Heat album. The song, "If I Ever Lose This Heaven", hit the R&B charts in September of the year and was covered by the Average White Band. Ware worked with Minnie Riperton on Jones' album and collaborated again on Riperton's album, Adventures in Paradise album, composing Riperton's R&B hit, "Inside My Love". Ware and T-Boy Ross worked on demos for Ware's second album, this one to be issued on Motown and also for T-Boy Ross to win a deal.[3] One of the demo recordings, "I Want You", was heard by Berry Gordy, who decided the song would be a good fit for Marvin Gaye.[3] Gaye heard the other demos and decided to record much of it on what would be his next album, I Want You.[3] Buoyed by the number-one title track, the album peaked at number-one on the R&B charts and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200 and sold over a million copies.

Having given away the material for his album, Ware began again on a solo effort for Motown's Gordy label. The result would be Ware's second album, Musical Massage. Released in September 1976, the album failed to chart and was not properly promoted.[3] Ware produced the Shadows In The Street album for the group Shadow, which was released in 1981.[4] Ware continued his songwriting and producing career while also releasing solo albums between 1979 and 2008. During that period, Ware wrote for Teena Marie, Jeffrey Osborne, Loose Ends, James Ingram, Melissa Manchester, Krystol, Bobby Womack and Lulu, co-writing the latter's European hit, "Independence" in 1993. Ware contributed to singer Maxwell's 1996 debut album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite by co-writing "Sumthin' Sumthin'". The album is considered one of the landmark albums of the neo-soul genre. At the time of that success, Ware's earlier work became a heavy source of samples in hip-hop music.[5]

As of 2009, Ware was recovering from treatment for prostate cancer, and credited his friend and fellow songwriter Adrienne Anderson with directing him to appropriate medical care.[6] He died in Marina del Rey, California on February 23, 2017 from complications of prostate cancer. He was 77.[7][8]

Ware wrote and co-wrote dozens of songs for various artists, some of his credits include:

• At Allmusic
• Leon Ware discography at Discogs
• Artist page at Soul Walking
• Leon Ware 75 minute audio mix with dialogue
• Leon Ware 2012 Interview at Soulinterviews.com