Rose Royce

Rose Royce originated from Los Angeles, California, United States and initially formed in 1973. The first incarnation of the group consisted of drummer Henry Garner, percussionist Terral “Terry” Santiel, bassist Lequient “Duke” Jobe, saxophonist Michael Moore, trumpet player/vocalist Kenny Copeland, guitarist/lead vocalist Kenji Brown, trumpet player Freddie Dunn, and keyboardist Victor Nix. Their style shifted over the years, but closely emulated funk, disco, and R&B music. Their influences were not necessarily eclectic but were certainly profuse. Part of the list includes the Temptations, Kool & the Gang, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, Parliament, and Sly & the Family Stone.

Before forming Rose Royce many of it’s members acted as backing musicians for various LA groups. They later coalesced into a collective of session and touring musicians for soul singer, Edwin Starr. It was through Starr that the members met Motown producer Norman Whitfield, who signed them to his recently established label Whitfield Records. At this time the band called themselves the Magic Wand and were working for both funk singer Yvonne Fair and the Motown act Undisputed Truth. The group gradually started building an identity of their own and with the recruitment of lead singer Gwen Dickey (aka Rose Norwalt) they seemed to have solidified their independence as a band.

This newly revamped group garnered their name and broke into the mainstream with their involvement in the Joel Schumacher film,“Car Wash”. Norman Whitfield was hired as the music supervisor for the film, and as head consultant he decided this was the perfect opportunity to jump start Rose Royce’s career. The movie and soundtrack both proved to be very popular and as Whitfield intended, it launched the group into international success. The soundtrack featured three Billboard charting singles with the title track reaching the No.1 spot. Also the album won both the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Music and a Grammy award for Best Motion Picture Score.

The group’s 1st official studio album “Rose Royce II: In Full Bloom” was released on 29 July 1977 and soared on the market, hitting No.1 on the US Billboard Top Soul LPs and No. 9 on the US billboard Top LPs. The album has since gone Platinum in the US and Gold in the UK. Their follow up “Rose Royce III: Strikes Again!” also went Gold in the UK and likewise obtained Gold status in the US. It contained the two Billboard R&B hits “I’m in Love (And I Love the Feeling)” and “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” (Madonna resurged interest in this song credited to her 1984 cover).

Their next album “Rose Royce IV: Rainbow Connection” performed well in critical circles, but experienced slight turbulence on the market; however, it did manage to appear on both the R&B and Billboard Albums charts. Though lead singer Dickey left Rose Royce in 1980, the band still continued to release consistently strong material, but never achieved the success of their early years. They released a total of seven albums throughout the 80s, but called it quits after their 1989 release “Perfect Lover”. Gwen Dickey started a solo career after her departure, but has left open the possibility of reforming Rose Royce.