Rod Temperton
(1949-2016)

songwriter and composer of Michael Jackson's Thriller

Died aged 66

Rodney Lynn Temperton (9 October 1949 – 25 September 2016) was an English songwriter, musician, vocalist, and record producer. Temperton was the keyboardist and main songwriter for the 1970s pop music, disco, and funk band Heatwave, writing songs including "Star of a Story", "Always and Forever", "Boogie Nights", and "The Groove Line". After he was recruited by record producer Quincy Jones, he wrote several successful singles for Michael Jackson, including "Thriller", "Off the Wall", and "Rock with You". He also wrote songs for George Benson, including "Give Me the Night" and "Love X Love", along with Patti Austin and James Ingram's United States number-one single "Baby, Come to Me", among many others. Temperton wrote the soundtrack for the 1986 film Running Scared. In 1990 he won a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for Birdland.

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Commemorated on 1 plaque

Rod Temperton 1949-2016 songwriter. A young man who once said "I'd like to write a song that will last forever" composed Thriller and countless others was born here

261 Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes, United Kingdom where they was born (1949)