Lamont Dozier, Motown hitmaker for The Supremes and more, dead at 81

The music industry has lost a legend.

Motown songwriter Lamont Dozier has died.

The Detroit musician is best known for the songs he helped pen as part of the team Holland-Dozier-Holland. Together with brothers Brian and Edward Holland, the trio wrote some of Motown's biggest hits of the 60s and 70s.

Among them were "Stop! In The Name Of Love," "How Sweet It Is," and "Heat Wave."

The songs they wrote were performed by some of the industry's most celebrated artists like Marvin Gaye and The Supremes.

In 1990, more than 25 years after he first linked up with The Supremes to craft his biggest hits, Dozier, along with the Holland brothers, were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He recounted this and more victories – plus some setbacks – in a 2019 memoir, “How Sweet It Is: A Songwriter’s Reflections on Music, Motown and the Mystery of the Muse.”

In his memoir, he outlines 19 guiding principles to great songwriting. In the final principle, he encouraged readers to accept that “there are no bad days” – just “learning days.”

“There’s a way to grow and improve,” he wrote. “To live up to your full potential, you have to approach writing and life with humble awe.”

Lamont Dozier was 81 years old.