Who is Rod Temperton? See Net-worth, Quote, Awards, Fact, Wiki

Rodney Lynn Temperton Wiki Biography

Rodney Lynn Temperton was born on 9 October 1949, in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England, and was an English songwriter, record producer and musician, best known as the keyboardist and main songwriter of the band Heatwave, and for writing two of Michael Jackson’s biggest hits, “Thriller” and “Rock With You”.

A noted songwriter, how wealthy was Rod Temperton? According to sources, Temperton had amassed a net worth of over $125 million, acquired largely through his involvement in music. His assets included homes in Los Angeles, the south of France, Switzerland, Fiji and the south east of England.

Rod Temperton Net Worth $125 Million

Temperton grew up in Lincolnshire where he attended De Aston Grammar School in Market Rasen. While at school, he was a drummer who formed a group for the school’s music competitions.

Upon his matriculation, he began to work in a frozen food company, but concurrently he started to play keyboards in several dance bands. Then in 1974, he met Johnnie Wilder, who at the time was forming a band. The two began performing in London clubs under the name Chicago Heatwave, with Rod as both the keyboardist and the main songwriter of the band.

Soon Wilder’s brother, Keith Wilder, joined them on vocals, and they became known as Heatwave. In 1976 the band signed with GTO Records, gaining additional members and releasing their debut album “Too Hot to Handle” the same year in the UK, and in 1977 in the USA. It spawned the hit singles “Boogie Night” and “Always and Forever”, both going platinum. Their second album, the 1978 “Central Heating”, contained another platinum hit, “The Groove Line”. The band’s popularity started to grow, which greatly contributed to Temperton’s net worth.

However, in the late ’70s he decided to leave Heatwave, but continued to write songs for them, as well as for various other artists, quickly establishing himself as one of the major songwriters in the industry.

In 1979, Temperton began a long collaboration with Quincy Jones. At the same time, Michael Jackson was working on his first solo album in four years, entitled “Off the Wall”, and Jones chose Temperton to write songs for it. He wrote three songs, including “Rock with You” which became one of the biggest hits of the star. They continued their collaboration on Jackson’s 1982 album “Thriller”, with Temperton providing the same amount of material as for the previous album, including the spectacular title song. “Thriller” became the biggest-selling album of all time, with uncorroborated sales surpassing 65 million copies, and winning eight Grammys. Temperton’s involvement in Jackson’s albums significantly improved his status, and considerably added to his net worth.

Aside from Jackson, Temperton also collaborated and wrote songs for other major names in music, such as Rufus & Chaka Khan, the Brothers Johnson, George Benson, Patti Austin, Donna Summer, Mica Paris among others, which also contributed to his fame and fortune. His work on “Birdland” from Quincy Jones’s album “Back on the Block” earned him a Grammy Award.

Along with Jones and Lionel Richie, Temperton wrote the song “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)” for the 1985 film “The Color Purple”, which earned him a nomination for the Best Original Song Oscar, and for Best Original Score. He then wrote five songs and composed the score of the 1986 film “Running Score”.

When it comes to his personal life, Temperton was married to Kathy until his death from cancer in 2016, but other details regarding his private life remain unknown to the public.