Songwriter
Born: October 9, 1947;
Died: October 5, 2016
ROD Temperton, who has died of cancer aged 66, was a hugely successful songwriter who wrote some of Michael Jackson's most famous hits, including Thriller and Rock With You. He also wrote for a host of other stars including Anita Baker, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, and Aretha Franklin.
Temperton began his career as a member of the disco band Heatwave, writing the 1970s hits Always And Forever and Boogie Nights for the group. But he was best known for writing songs for Jackson's albums Off The Wall and Thriller, after working with the singer's producer Quincy Jones.
When he joined Heatwave, Temperton had been working in a frozen fish factory in Grimsby.
He came up with the title for the smash hit song and album Thriller, which went on to sell millions of copies worldwide.
"I wrote two or three hundred titles and came up with Midnight Man. I woke up the next morning and I said this word, Thriller," he has been quoted as saying.
"Something in my head just said, 'this is the title'. You could visualise it at the top of the Billboard charts, you could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page."
Temperton is also said to have come up with much of the song in the back of a taxi, on the way to the studio.
The Cleethorpes-born songwriter worked with Jones after the noted producer heard Boogie Nights.
Despite his huge success, eventually owning properties in Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, the south of France, Switzerland, Fiji and Kent, he avoided the limelight.
He said of his life: "I watch telly, catch up on the news, and maybe the phone will ring."
The songwriter opened up about his life in a Radio 2 documentary in 2006.
He said his interest in music could have been started by the fact that his father put a transistor radio in his cot at night and he would go to sleep listening to Radio Luxembourg.
His former music teacher Ted Gledhill once said: "He played drums at school and I remember him forming a group.
"He later changed to keyboard, which is where his talents remain. In those days pop music was a bit frowned upon, I suppose."
As well as Jackson, Temperton also penned songs for Karen Carpenter, Donna Summer, Mariah Carey and Mica Paris.
Jon Platt, chairman and chief executive of Warner/Chappell, said in a statement: "Rod Temperton, British composer and musician, died following a brief aggressive battle with cancer.
He added: "He was often referred to as the Invisible Man. He was the sole writer of multiple successful songs such as Thriller, Off The Wall, Rock With You, Give Me The Night, Sweet Freedom, Always & Forever and Boogie Nights, to name just a few."
He is survived by his wife Kathy.
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