Prentiss Barnes, 81; Sang With the Moonglows in the ‘50s and ‘60s

Prentiss Barnes, 81, who sang with the Moonglows, a rhythm and blues group of the 1950s and ‘60s, died Saturday in a car accident in Mississippi.

In his heyday, the bass singer performed such hit singles as “Sincerely,” “Most of All,” “We Go Together,” and “The Ten Commandments of Love,” with the Moonglows. The group made several albums, including “Look, It’s the Moonglows” in 1959, which was reissued as a classic in 1990.

Barnes was born April 12, 1925, in Magnolia, Miss., and was raised in the area. He moved to Cleveland as a young man and met the six other musicians who soon joined forces as the Moonglows. Band members changed through the years but Barnes stayed on until the group split up in the mid-1960s.

He planned a solo career but a car accident in San Antonio in 1969 left him handicapped. From then on he lived primarily on Social Security checks.

Barnes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.