Who was Ralph Tavares? Member of Grammy award winning group 'Tavares' passes away at 79

Just a few days short of becoming an octogenarian, Musical group Tavares’ member, Ralph Tavares, passed away.

His death was confirmed through Tavares' official Facebook page in the afternoon of December 9. They wrote:

The cause of death has not yet been revealed and an official statement regarding the same is awaited from Ralph Tavares’ family members.

The journey of Ralph Tavares and his group

Born as Ralph Edward Vierra Tavares on December 10, 1941, he was a vocalist who gained recognition as a member of the musical group, Tavares.

The band, comprised of five Cape Verdean-American brothers, began performing in 1950s with various name and member changes in the following years. They changed the name of their group in the 1970s as the public changed their preferences to dance-oriented music and Black male groups became more popular.

Tavares then delivered their first hit in 1973 with their debut album Check It Out, a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. They then remained at the top of the Billboard R&B singles chart the following year with the cover songs of Hall & Oates and She’s Gone.

The group then delivered a top 10 pop hit in 1975 with It Only Takes a Minute. It was later taken over by Take That and sampled by Jennifer Lopez in 2007. The group’s single, Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel, remained in 15th position on the Hot 100 in 1976.

Tavares’ version of More Than a Woman was featured in the film Saturday Night Fever in 1977 and remained in 32nd position in the list of Hot 100. It was also a big hit in Europe and reached the seventh position on the UK charts.

A Penny for Your Thoughts was Tavares’ final top 40 hit that made it to the Hot 100 in 1982. It was a recipient of a Grammy nomination in the category of the best R&B performance by a duo or group.

Ralph Tavares retired from the group in 1984 and worked for more than 30 years as a court officer in the New Bedford and Fall River cities of Massachusetts. He rejoined the group in 2014 for a special reunion show.

Public pays tribute to Ralph Tavares on Twitter

All of Tavares' songs were huge hits and remained on top of the Billboard charts. Ralph’s death was a big shock for the music industry, and several people paid tribute to the artist on Twitter.

Very little information is currently available on the personal life of Ralph Tavares. Further details are yet to be revealed about his family and educational background.

About the author

Anupal is a pop culture writer at Sportskeeda with a degree in Political Science. He developed a keen interest in the lives of celebrities, films, TV shows, and box office collections since an early age. After accumulating significant experience as a content writer across varied fields at companies such as The Indian Wire, DigiStatement, and QuirkyByte Media, he eventually settled on writing about his favorite genre - pop culture.

Anupal believes in conducting in-depth research while writing about any topic and relies on varied sources to ensure he produces holistic articles. He also often glances through content that was published in the 80s and 90s to gain a better understanding of the subject he is covering.

Anupal admires Robert Downey Jr., who played one of his favorite Marvel superheroes, Iron Man. He is inspired by the actor's resilience and the determination in overcoming past struggles to building a successful Hollywood career and admires the way he articulates his thoughts while speaking in interviews.

If Anupal could travel back in time, he would love to experience James Cameron's 2009 film 'Avatar' in a theatre full of fans. When he's not busy working, he binges on the latest OTT titles across languages.

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