Bobby Rogers, who was born on the same day in the same Detroit hospital as the Motown crooner Smokey Robinson, with whom he harmonized in high school and eventually in the Hall of Fame singing group the Miracles, died Sunday in Southfield, Mich. He was 73.
Bruce Webber of the New York Times reports the cause was complications of diabetes, said Patricia Cosby, his friend for half a century. Mr. Rogers also suffered from dementia, she said.
Mr. Rogers, tall, bespectacled and jovial, brought a smooth tenor to the Miracles, who were founded in the mid-1950s and became one of Motown’s longest-lived and most important ensembles. Known for their silky harmonies, snazzy threads and coolly coordinated dance steps onstage (early on, Mr. Rogers was the group’s choreographer), they recorded for Berry Gordy Jr.’s Tamla label and became a stanchion of the Motown sound and Mr. Gordy’s recording empire.
