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BroadwayWorld is saddened to report that LaMonte McLemore, a founding member of the vocal group The 5th Dimension, passed away Tuesday morning, Feb. 3, at his home in Las Vegas. He was 90 years old. LaMonte died from natural causes following a stroke suffered several years ago.
With The 5th Dimension, McLemore helped bring a polished, genre-blending sound to American pop and soul in the late 1960s and early 1970s, scoring era-defining hits including “Up, Up and Away” and “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” The group won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year twice—first for “Up, Up and Away” (1968) and again for “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)” (1970). Both recordings were later inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame (“Up-Up and Away,” 2003; “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” 2004).
The “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” medley topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks in the spring of 1969, becoming one of the signature recordings of its generation. Other mega-hits included the Number 1, “Wedding Bell Blues,” and the iconic “Stoned Soul Picnic,” amid seven Gold albums and six Platinum RIAA-certified singles. In 1991, The Original 5th Dimension received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
McLemore co-founded The 5th Dimension in Los Angeles, joining Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, and Ron Townson. The group appeared on major television variety shows of the era and toured internationally, including a 1973 State Department cultural tour that brought American pop music behind the Iron Curtain.
Outside the recording studio, McLemore worked as a photographer, with work spanning entertainment, sports, and editorial portraiture. His images captured many of the defining figures of 20th-century popular culture, and he contributed photography to Jet magazine over the course of multiple decades.
McLemore and The 5th Dimension also reached new audiences in recent years. Their musical performances were featured in Questlove’s Oscar-winning documentary ‘Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),’ which revisited the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival and its enduring musical impact.
In 2014, he co-authored with Robert-Allan Arno the autobiography ‘From Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography, and Music,’ reflecting on a career that moved effortlessly between the stage and the camera.
McLemore is survived by his wife, Mieko McLemore, his daughter Ciara, his adopted son Darin, his sister Joan, and three grandchildren. A memorial service and celebration of life will be announced at a later date.
