Rodney Lynn Temperton (October 9, 1949 – September 25, 2016) was an English songwriter, producer, and musician.
Biography[]
Temperton was the keyboardist and main songwriter for the 1970s pop music, disc,o 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," as well as Patti Austin and James Ingram's United States number-one single "Baby, Come to Me," among many others.
Work with Michael Jackson[]
In 1979, Quincy Jones recruited Temperton to write for what became Jackson's first solo album in four years and his first full-fledged solo release for Epic Records, Off the Wall. Temperton wrote three songs for the album, including "Rock with You," which became the second US number 1 single from the album.
In the early 1980s, Temperton left Germany and moved to Beverly Hills, California. In 1982, Temperton wrote three songs, including the title track, for Jackson's next LP, Thriller, the biggest-selling album of all time in the United States, selling 32 million copies. Temperton also wrote the spoken word section of the song for the actor Vincent Price.
Credits[]
Off the Wall[]
Thriller[]
- "Baby Be Mine"
- "Carousel"
- "Got the Hots"
- "Hot Street" (unreleased)
- "Rolling the Dice" (unreleased)
- "Someone in the Dark"
- "Spice of Life" (unreleased)
- "The Lady in My Life"
- "Thriller"
Bad[]
Additional Credits[]
- "The Dude"