Celebrity Graveland

May 07, 1936 – November 17, 2014

Jimmy Ruffin was an R&B and soul singer who performed from a young age alongside his little brother, David. By the time he was 25, Jimmy found himself in Detroit and was a session singer in the Motown hit machine. He recorded his own stuff, too, though he was unable to find a hit. After a stint in the U.S. Army, Jimmy returned to Motown and was briefly considered as a replacement for the vacant lead singer role for the Temptations. That job eventually went to his brother, but Jimmy forged ahead as a solo artist.

In 1966, he recorded what would become his biggest hit. “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” became a Top 10 hit on both the R&B and Billboard Hot 100 charts. It would remain his enduring signature song for decades.

While Ruffin had other modest hits in the U.S., he became much more popular in the U.K., eventually living there for a time. While in England, he collaborated with a number of pop acts and charted several solo top 10 hits. His post-Motown years stateside were busy, if not as successful. He toured and recorded with David, but never quite matched the peak he achieved with “What Becomes…”.

After David’s death in 1991, Jimmy became an outspoken anti-drug advocate. He spent his later years continuing to work on his music in Las Vegas. He died at the age of 78 after a lengthy bout with pneumonia.

Burial

Palm Memorial Park Northwest – Las Vegas, NV

Specific Location

Garden of Eternal Life; In the northeast section of the park, find a shamrock shaped marker for GILLAN and Jimmy is buried about 12 rows north of it under a tree.

This entry was posted on April 28, 2025 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Palm Memorial Park Northwest with tags Motown, Palm Memorial Park Northwest, Singers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.