Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Edwards began his musical career by singing in clubs while stationed in Germany when in the US Army.
After returning to live in Duluth, Georgia, he appeared on bills with Wilson Pickett, and James and Bobby Purify, before moving to Chicago in the late 1960s.
He followed it up with "Messing Up A Good Thing" and a self-titled album, and then his most successful record, "Careful Man", produced by Smith and written by Jimmy Lewis, which reached number 8 on the R&B chart in 1974.
[4] After the record company went out of business, Edwards did some shows with the Spinners, but also maintained a solo career on the Cotillion label, achieving two more R&B chart entries with "Baby, Hold On to Me" (1976) and ""Nobody But You" (1977).
He then decided to join the Spinners on a full-time basis, and replaced Philippé Wynne as the group's lead singer in 1977.