Soul music fans outside of Detroit may not know the name Winzell Kelly, but they know his music. Three decades ago he became a member of the legendary Dramatics, but his career went much longer.
A Detroit native, Kelly began playing both bass guitar and saxophone as a teenager, while also singing baritone and second tenor in his church choir. As a young man he performed around the Detroit area, and was part of the short lived group Five Special (“Why Leave Us Alone”). He also performed the the Floaters and a latter day version of the Capitols before joining the Dramatics in 1994.
Kelly has spent most of the next three decades touring with the Dramatics, but wrote and produced outside of the group. His solo release, Love Connection, came out in 2009 and he followed it up with Split Personality in 2012.
I had the pleasure of presenting Winzell, along with the rest of The Dramatics with the SoulTracks Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. He is pictured in the rest suit on the left.
Winzell Kelly was an extremely talented singer and a longtime Detroit favorite. Sadly, he died in 2024.
By Chris Rizik
