Latimore obit

“Let’s Straighten It Out” singer Latimore dies at 86

 He was not on the list.

(August 22, 2026) He was blues royalty, but he had a #1 R&B smash in 1974 that is still in heavy rotation today. We mourn the passing of Benjamin William Lattimore, better known as singer Latimore, at age 86. bad news came tonight from our friends at The Boogie Report.

Born in Charleston, Tennessee, Latimore began performing and recording in the 1960s before finding greater success in the early 1970s on Henry Stone’s Glades label. His versions of “Stormy Monday” and “If You Were My Woman” earned attention, but his breakthrough came in 1974 with the self-written “Let’s Straighten It Out,” which went all the way to #1 on the R&B charts and became his only crossover pop hit.

Built around Latimore’s electric piano and a nearly spoken vocal, the song was a plea for two lovers to stop arguing and communicate. Latimore followed “Straighten It Out” with twelve additional R&B chart hits, including the Top 5 “Keep the Home Fire Burnin'” and “Somethin’ ‘Bout ‘Cha.”

As mainstream R&B changed in the 1980s, Latimore moved to more of a southern soul sound and found a home at the popular Mississippi-based label Malaco Records. Over the next two decades, he released a steady series of albums that found a welcoming audience of adult listeners. He later formed his own LatStone Records and continued recording and performing well into the new millennium.

In all, Latimore released more than two dozen albums, the last of which was his 2013 tribute to the great Ray Charles.

While “Let’s Straighten It Out” is undoubtedly Latimore’s signature song, another cut, “Let Me Go” from the 1976 album It Ain’t Where You’ve Been, has become a 21st Century sleeper hit, with over 25 million streams after its inclusion on several TikTok posts.

In 2017, Latimore was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, recognition of a career stretching across more than five decades, and affirmation of one of the great baritone singers of his era.