Charles Edwin Hatcher, professionally known as Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter, best recognized for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles in the 1970s, with his most notable hit being the number-one song "War".
Born on January 21, 1942, in Nashville, Tennessee, Hatcher was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, alongside his cousins, soul singers Roger and Willie Hatcher.
Hatcher began his singing career in 1957 as part of the doo-wop group the Future Tones, releasing a single before being called up for military service in the United States Army for three years.
Following his military service, Hatcher decided to pursue music as a career, joining Bill Doggett's musical group and adopting the stage name Edwin Starr at the suggestion of Doggett's manager Don Briggs.
Starr made his solo recording debut in 1965 for the Detroit record company Ric-Tic, with the song "Agent Double-O-Soul" (1965),a reference to the James Bond films.
He went on to release other early hits such as "Headline News", "Back Street", and "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)", and wrote the song "Oh, How Happy", which became a number 12 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1966 for The Shades of Blue.
At Motown, Starr recorded a string of singles before achieving international success with "Twenty-Five Miles", which he co-wrote with producers Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua, peaking at number 6 in both the Hot 100 and R&B Charts in 1969.
Starr's music continued to thrive, with his song "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)" being reissued in Britain in 1968, peaking at number 11 on the UK Chart.
In the 1970s, Starr moved to England, where he continued to produce music and resided until his death on April 2, 2003.
