GRAMMY-winning vocalist and photographer LaMonte McLemore helped shape one of pop-soul’s most influential groups while documenting generations of music, sport and culture through his lens.
by Paul Cashmere
LaMonte McLemore, founding member of The 5th Dimension and a pivotal figure in American popular music and photography, has died aged 90. McLemore passed away on February 3 at his Las Vegas home, surrounded by family, following natural causes related to a stroke suffered several years ago. His death marks the loss of an artist whose influence extended well beyond the recording studio, spanning music, visual culture and social history.
As a core member of The 5th Dimension, McLemore helped define a sound that reshaped late 1960s and early 1970s pop and soul. The group’s polished harmonies and sophisticated song choices delivered era-defining recordings including “Up, Up And Away” and “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In,” both of which earned Grammy Awards for Record Of The Year and later induction into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks in 1969 and became one of the most enduring anthems of its generation.
Across their peak years, The 5th Dimension amassed seven Gold albums and six Platinum singles, with further major hits including “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “One Less Bell To Answer” and “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All.” In 1991, the original group was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, recognising a body of work that crossed racial, stylistic and commercial boundaries during a turbulent era in American history.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, McLemore’s path to music stardom was far from linear. After high school he enlisted in the United States Navy, training as an aerial photographer, a discipline that laid the foundation for a parallel career behind the camera. He also pursued professional baseball, becoming one of the first African Americans to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals and later pitching briefly in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league system.
Music and photography ultimately converged in Los Angeles. McLemore’s work as a photographer placed him at the centre of Black cultural life in the city, contributing images to publications including Jet and Ebony for more than four decades. It was through a photo shoot at the Miss Black Beauty Pageant in the mid-1960s that he met Marilyn McCoo and Florence LaRue, relationships that proved instrumental in the formation of The 5th Dimension.
Co-founded in Los Angeles with McCoo, LaRue, Billy Davis Jr. and Ron Townson, the group evolved from earlier jazz-oriented projects into a vocal ensemble capable of navigating pop, soul, folk and Broadway-influenced material. McLemore’s warm bass voice anchored the group’s intricate harmonies, while his industry experience helped guide their early career moves, including the transition from The Versatiles to The 5th Dimension and their signing with Johnny Rivers’ Soul City label.
Beyond chart success, the group became a cultural presence through extensive television appearances and international touring. They represented the United States on a State Department cultural exchange tour behind the Iron Curtain in 1973 and performed twice at the White House during the Nixon era, appearances that reflected their mainstream visibility at a time of significant social division.
McLemore’s photographic legacy stands alongside his musical achievements. He was the first African American photographer hired by Harper’s Bazaar and shot the first album cover for Stevie Wonder. His lens captured musicians, athletes and cultural leaders with a clarity and dignity that helped shape how Black excellence was represented in American media.
In later years, McLemore and The 5th Dimension reached new audiences through archival rediscovery. Their performance at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival featured prominently in Questlove’s Oscar-winning documentary Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), reaffirming their place within a broader narrative of Black musical history.
In 2014, McLemore reflected on his multifaceted life in his autobiography From Hobo Flats To The 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled In Baseball, Photography, And Music, co-written with Robert-Allan Arno. The book traced a career driven by curiosity, discipline and a belief in creative possibility.
McLemore is survived by his wife of 30 years, Mieko McLemore, his daughter Ciara, adopted son Darin, sister Joan and three grandchildren. A memorial service and celebration of life will be announced at a later date.
His personal philosophy remained consistent throughout his life. “All in all, we are only in this world to help one another,” McLemore once said. It is a sentiment reflected in a career that elevated voices, images and stories that continue to resonate decades later.
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