DETROIT — You might say it was an album six decades in the making.
"Temptations 60," the anniversary record that became a passion project for Tempts founder Otis Williams, arrived overnight Friday. It's the iconic Motown group's first album since 2018 and its first of new material since 2004.
Stylistically, the album has a retrospective feel, touching on various hallmarks of the Temptations' sound through the years — romantic songs, socially conscious work, bits of funk and jazz. Executive-produced by Williams, it includes contributions from Narada Michael Walden and rapper K. Sparks, along with a new collaboration featuring Smokey Robinson ("Is It Gonna Be Yes or No"), reuniting Williams with the group's early songwriting force.
Friday's release was accompanied by the second chapter in a three-part Temptations documentary series on YouTube, chronicling the group from its early Detroit days up to the present, with reflections from Williams, Robinson and longtime Tempts manager Shelly Berger. The final installment will be out Feb. 4.
Also Friday, the Motown Museum and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced they've partnered for an upcoming virtual interview with Williams and Berger to dig into "Temptations 60" and the group's history. The session will run on the museums' respective YouTube channels at 7 p.m. Feb. 4.
The Black History Month event will also air at 4 p.m. Feb. 15 on SiriusXM Channel 310.
All the activity is part of an ongoing Temptations' 60th anniversary campaign announced last year. Williams and the group have returned to the road for live dates, while the hit Temptations musical, "Ain't Too Proud," has resumed touring the country.
If "Temptations 60" is the group's final release, 80-year-old Williams isn't saying just yet.
"I want to let the sun set on this anniversary album first and soak up the rays from our 60 years," he said.
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