Known for his unique raspy and anguished tenor vocals, Ruffin was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008[2] and again in 2023.

[7][8] As a young child, Ruffin, along with his other siblings (older brothers Quincy and Jimmy, and sister Reada Mae) traveled with their father and their stepmother as a family gospel group, opening shows for Mahalia Jackson and The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, among others.

[7] In 1955, at age 14, Ruffin left home under the guardianship of a minister, Eddie Bush, and went to Memphis, Tennessee, with the purpose of pursuing the ministry.

Billed as Little David Bush, Ruffin continued to sing at talent shows, worked with horses at a jockey club and eventually became a member of The Dixie Nightingales.

[6] After some of his singing idols such as Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson had left gospel music and gone secular, Ruffin also turned in that direction.

Eddie Bush and his wife, Dorothy Helen, took the then-16-year-old Ruffin to Detroit, Michigan, where his brother, Jimmy, was pursuing a career in music while simultaneously working at the Ford Motor Company.

(At one time, The Voice Masters also included another future Temptations member, Melvin Franklin, one of numerous people David would claim as a cousin).

His older brother, Jimmy, went on a Motortown Revue tour with the Temptations, and he told David that they needed someone to sing tenor in their group.

Ruffin and his brother both auditioned to join the group, but they ultimately chose David after he performed with them on stage during the label's New Year's Eve party in 1963.

[12] After joining the Temptations, the bespectacled Ruffin initially sang backgrounds while the role of lead singer mostly alternated between Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams.

However, Smokey Robinson, who produced and co-wrote most of the Temptations' material at this point, saw Ruffin during this period as a "sleeping giant" in the group with a unique voice that was "mellow" yet "gruff.

While his solo career initially showed promise, Ruffin quickly declined as a performer due to his cocaine addiction, and Motown only giving him the bare minimum of support when it became clear that he was not nearly as popular without the Temptations behind him.

Ruffin’s final top ten hit was "Walk Away from Love" in 1975, produced by Van McCoy, which reached number nine on the Pop Charts.

It was also Ruffin's only entry into the UK Charts (as a solo artist), and was a hit there as well, making it into the Top Ten (peaking at number 10) in early 1976.

[23] Other notable recordings from Ruffin's solo career include "I Lost Everything I've Ever Loved" (1969); the gospel-inflected "I'm So Glad I Fell For You" (1970); "Blood Donors Needed (Give All You Can)" (1973); "Common Man" (1973) (which was sampled on the 2001 Jay-Z song "Never Change"); "No Matter Where" (1974); "Who I Am" (1975); "Statue of a Fool" (1975); and cover versions of the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back", "Rainy Night in Georgia" (popularized by Brook Benton)—both recorded for the shelved 1970 album; and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "I Miss You" (1973), featuring Eddie Kendricks (later Kendrick).

"Although some blame Ruffin's very intermittent post-Tempts success on deliberate corporate neglect, I've never found even his biggest solo hits all that undeniable—ungrouped, his voice seems overly tense whether it's grinding out grit or reaching for highs."

He then signed with RCA Records and formed a duo with fellow Temptation Eddie Kendricks, who had recently departed from the group under his own set of difficulties, including the weakening power of his voice after years of chain-smoking.

However, the reunion tour was short-lived since Ruffin repeatedly failed to show up for concerts while using cocaine, leading the group to be fined thousands of dollars.

That year, longtime Temptations fans Hall & Oates teamed up with Ruffin and Kendrick to perform at the re-opening of the Apollo Theater in New York.

He was charged with disorderly conduct "for refusing several requests" to leave the area after he allegedly made threats against some policemen and their families while being transported to jail.

[40] In 1982, Ruffin was charged $5,000 and sentenced to six months in a low-security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for failing to pay taxes amounting to more than $310,000 over two years (1975–1977).

[36] On May 19, 1986, Ruffin pleaded no contest to a charge of receiving and concealing stolen property worth less than $100 (a Colt .32-caliber handgun) and was fined $50 plus $100 in court costs.

[48] After completing a successful month-long tour of England with Kendricks and Edwards, Ruffin died on June 1, 1991, from an accidental overdose of crack cocaine; he was 50 years old.

[29][38] Brown then drove Ruffin to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was declared dead at 3:55 a.m. that morning from "an adverse reaction to drugs (cocaine)" after emergency room personnel spent almost an hour attempting to revive him.

[39] Although the cause of death was ruled an accident, Ruffin's family and friends suspected foul play, claiming that a money belt containing $40,000 was missing from his body.

As a result, Ruffin's estate filed suit against NBC and other major players involved in the making of the series, claiming defamation.

[56] Jackson, Rod Stewart, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Diana Ross, the Spinners, and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas sent floral arrangements.

Gaye said Ruffin's work "made me remember that when a lot of women listen to music, they want to feel the power of a real man.

Grand Puba of Brand Nubian referenced the singer on the 1990 single "All for One", stating: "I hit a beat and swing a note as if my name was David Ruffin."

Rapper Machine Gun Kelly also referenced the singer on his 2013 song "See My Tears" stating: "Fought every temptation shit, I guess I'm David Ruffin, huh?"