Philippe Wynne's tragic life and death

A star is born

Before joining Parliament/Funkadelic on their hit Knee Deep, Phillippe Wynne replaced his cousin G.C. Cameron as the lead singer for the group The Spinners when Cameron went solo.

He sang solo on their early hits How Could I Let You Get Away", "The Rubberband Man", and "One of a Kind (Love Affair)". The group experienced their best years while Wynne was singing with them and had their greatest number of hits.

Unfortunately, there was a tragic life behind that golden voice, beginning at a young age. The singer was born Philippe Escalante Walker on April 3, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to DeGree Walker and Annie Wynne Walker.

Family trauma

His parents divorced in November 1947, and his father, DeGree Walker, was granted custody because Annie ran off to Detroit with another man. Around 1952, Philippe and his three siblings were sent to the New Orphanage Asylum for Colored Children in Cincinnati.

Philippé and his brother, Michael, ran away from the orphanage around 1956 and went to Detroit to locate their mother. In the early 1960s, they formed a gospel group called The Walker Singers.

The early years

Philippe later began using his mother's surname, Wynn, without the e, and switched to R&B music. In 1981, he shared that the hardest thing about being sent to an orphanage was knowing that both of his parents were still alive. This must have been heartbreaking for the children.

Philippe achieved a measure of success in 1968, singing with Bootsy Collins's group Pacemakers and later with James Brown's J.B.'s. Wynne spent some time in Germany as the lead singer of the Afro Kings, a band from Liberia.

In 1977, the success of the group with him as lead singer led Wynne to make a decision that affected the futures of them all. He asked for a name change to Philippe Wynne and the Spinners. When his request was refused, he left for a solo career in 1977.

What goes up must come down

Sadly, after the split, neither Wynne nor the Spinners would experience the level of success they achieved when they were together.

Philippe's first album, Starting All Over, was released in 1977 on Cotillion Records but had no hit singles and limited success. After Cotillion Records released him from his contract, the singer began working with George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic in 1979.

He also reconnected with Bootsie Collins and appeared on his album Sweat Band. The artist released his second solo album, Wynne Jammin', in 1980 on Uncle Jam Records, but it did not sell very well.

Additional tragedy and death

Wynne later made a guest appearance on the songs "Something Inside My Head" by Gene Dunlap and "Whip It" by the Treacherous Three. His final album was self-titled Philippé Wynne and released in 1984 by Sugar Hill Records.

On February 1, 1973, Philippe Wynne married Ava Leflor in Las Vegas, Nevada. They had two sons, Emmanuel Wynne, born in 1973, and Alvarez Escalante Wynn in 1975.

Philippé and Ava eventually divorced, and both of his sons died tragically. Alvarez was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1999 in Compton, California. Emmanuel, who was living in Daytona Beach, Florida, died one year later. He tried to save a man from drowning in 2000, and he drowned in the process. Emmanuel was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor.

On July 13, 1984, Philippe Wynne was performing at Ivey's nightclub in Oakland, California, when he suffered a heart attack. He died the following morning at the age of 43. So many tragedies for a man whose voice is on some of the most beloved songs ever.