Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, better known as Tammi Terrell (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was a Grammy Award-nominated American soul singer, most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter/Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in 1965 and enjoyed modest success as a solo singer. Once she was paired with Gaye in 1967, her stardom grew, but later t...
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Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, better known as Tammi Terrell (April 29, 1945 – March 16, 1970) was a Grammy Award-nominated American soul singer, most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter/Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in 1965 and enjoyed modest success as a solo singer. Once she was paired with Gaye in 1967, her stardom grew, but later that year she collapsed on stage into Gaye's arms during a performance. She was then diagnosed with a brain tumor which eventually led to her death at the age of 24.
Born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery in Philadelphia, she entered the music business at the age of 13, regularly performing live. In 1961, she was signed to the fledgling Scepter Records (later Wand Records), recording under the name "Tammy Montgomery". After coming to the attention of James Brown, she recorded one single apiece for Brown's own Try Me record label and, in 1964,...
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