Paul William's heirs and royalties

[RossHolloway]

Unbelievable is all I can say. It's unreal how such beautiful music can spawn such ugly consequences. It would interesting to learn more about the offspring of all these legendary singers. The only ones who are occasionally in the spotlight are Diana Ross's childeren and from all outwardly appearances they all appear fairly normal, educated [[at least the three daughters), and well adjusted. But what about The Miracles childeren or the kids of the Four Tops or Marvelettes? It would make for a very interesting story of how their kids survived living in the Motown shadows of their parents.

[marv2]

Unbelievable is all I can say. It's unreal how such beautiful music can spawn such ugly consequences. It would interesting to learn more about the offspring of all these legendary singers. The only ones who are occasionally in the spotlight are Diana Ross's childeren and from all outwardly appearances they all appear fairly normal, educated [[at least the three daughters), and well adjusted. But what about The Miracles childeren or the kids of the Four Tops or Marvelettes? It would make for a very interesting story of how their kids survived living in the Motown shadows of their parents.

Gladys Knight has her own sad story to tell.

[RossHolloway]

Gladys Knight has her own sad story to tell.

What is Gladys story?

[captainjames]

What is Gladys story?

I believe her eldest son Jimmy died at the age of 36 in his sleep.

[marv2]

What is Gladys story?

Gladys' son Jimmy Newman died following a two day alcohol-induced cocaine binge. He died in his sleep on 7/10/1999 of a drug overdose in Las Vegas, NV.

[kenneth]

Gladys' son Jimmy Newman died following a two day alcohol-induced cocaine binge. He died in his sleep on 7/10/1999 of a drug overdose in Las Vegas, NV.

A lot has been written about the many child actors who never make it as mature or responsible adults, but little has been written about the number of offspring of famous parents who have struggled with depression, drugs and more. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Carol Burnett, Paul Newman, Angela Lansbury, Ryan O'Neal [[more than one child), and amongst singers Gladys Knight, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin [[none of whom I knew about before), all who had children who became drug addicts. It's worthy of study why so many "well off" children of celebrities go this route. I don't think money and availability alone is the answer though I'm sure it plays a large part. Being raised by strangers [[nannies, others) likely has much to do with it as well.

[marv2]

A lot has been written about the many child actors who never make it as mature or responsible adults, but little has been written about the number of offspring of famous parents who have struggled with depression, drugs and more. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Carol Burnett, Paul Newman, Angela Lansbury, Ryan O'Neal [[more than one child), and amongst singers Gladys Knight, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin [[none of whom I knew about before), all who had children who became drug addicts. It's worthy of study why so many "well off" children of celebrities go this route. I don't think money and availability alone is the answer though I'm sure it plays a large part. Being raised by strangers [[nannies, others) likely has much to do with it as well.

Let's not forget one of the most reported and one of the earliest stories on this subject and that was the daughter of Art Linkletter, Diane Linkletter at the age of 20 in 1969. She dropped some LSD and jumped from the window of her 21st Floor apartment. Back at the time, it was told with care and not in the sensationalized manner of say a TMZ today. In fact, I can remember as a kid hearing this story and not ever wanting to try drugs after it happened.

Marv

[RossHolloway]

A lot has been written about the many child actors who never make it as mature or responsible adults, but little has been written about the number of offspring of famous parents who have struggled with depression, drugs and more. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Carol Burnett, Paul Newman, Angela Lansbury, Ryan O'Neal [[more than one child), and amongst singers Gladys Knight, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin [[none of whom I knew about before), all who had children who became drug addicts. It's worthy of study why so many "well off" children of celebrities go this route. I don't think money and availability alone is the answer though I'm sure it plays a large part. Being raised by strangers [[nannies, others) likely has much to do with it as well.

Well I don't think it has anything to do with being raised by nannies or one's own biological parents. Addiction is addiction. The older I get the more that I have come to see that addiction does not discriminate- be it drugs or alcohol. It does not care about race, age, sex, culture, nationality, or social economical background. It's almost like its a part of the human condition. I think the only way to reduce its chances of taking hold or taking over someones life is to stay vigilant against it and to stop it early on if possible. But even then there are no guarantees. While writing this I'm reminded of James Brown song King Heorine. It's a really powerful song. I think addiction stems from unhappiness and is a result of a person not having the avenue or ability to deal with a particular issue or issues in life. It's an escape route away from ones reality/problems. I think everyone has "life problems", it's just a matter of how we choose to deal with them or handle them. Unfortunately some see no other way but to turn to drugs and alcohol.

[jillfoster]

Well I don't think it has anything to do with being raised by nannies or one's own biological parents. Addiction is addiction. The older I get the more that I have come to see that addiction does not discriminate- be it drugs or alcohol. It does not care about race, age, sex, culture, nationality, or social economical background. It's almost like its a part of the human condition. I think the only way to reduce its chances of taking hold or taking over someones life is to stay vigilant against it and to stop it early on if possible. But even then there are no guarantees. While writing this I'm reminded of James Brown song King Heorine. It's a really powerful song. I think addiction stems from unhappiness and is a result of a person not having the avenue or ability to deal with a particular issue or issues in life. It's an escape route away from ones reality/problems. I think everyone has "life problems", it's just a matter of how we choose to deal with them or handle them. Unfortunately some see no other way but to turn to drugs and alcohol.

The only way to stop it is to never do it in the first damn place.

[kalisa]

Unbelievable is all I can say. It's unreal how such beautiful music can spawn such ugly consequences. It would interesting to learn more about the offspring of all these legendary singers. The only ones who are occasionally in the spotlight are Diana Ross's childeren and from all outwardly appearances they all appear fairly normal, educated [[at least the three daughters), and well adjusted. But what about The Miracles childeren or the kids of the Four Tops or Marvelettes? It would make for a very interesting story of how their kids survived living in the Motown shadows of their parents.

Yes it would.

I've never seen any indication that Ruffin's granddaughter's tragedy was anything but "wrong place/wrong time" [[no fault of hers) but Kenneth Williams and David English Jr. are other stories.

Levi Stubbs' daughter has been a participant on this forum and seems like a delightful lady. David Ruffin's son by Genna, David Jr., has been on the periphery of the music business for years. Paul Williams Jr. is currently singing with Dennis Edwards and the Temptations Review, as far as I know. So it isn't all bad or ugly. I'd like to know the success stories also. As far as I've seen, Diana's family would fall into that category, regardless of what anyone may say or think about Diana.

[RossHolloway]

Yes it would.

I've never seen any indication that Ruffin's granddaughter's tragedy was anything but "wrong place/wrong time" [[no fault of hers) but Kenneth Williams and David English Jr. are other stories.

Levi Stubbs' daughter has been a participant on this forum and seems like a delightful lady. David Ruffin's son by Genna, David Jr., has been on the periphery of the music business for years. Paul Williams Jr. is currently singing with Dennis Edwards and the Temptations Review, as far as I know. So it isn't all bad or ugly. I'd like to know the success stories also. As far as I've seen, Diana's family would fall into that category, regardless of what anyone may say or think about Diana.

Marvin's daughter Nona made an album in the early-mid 90's, but then disappeared. Does anyone know the backstory? What ever happened to Marvin's son? Or what about Dennis Edwards? And where the heck is Rockwell? lol. Or does anyone know anything about Smokey's children? I'm not really looking for dirt, I'm just curious to what life would have been like as the child of a larger than life singer.