LaMonte McLemore, St. Louis native and 5th Dimension co-founder, dies at 90 in Las Vegas

A St. Louis-born performer whose group helped define late-1960s pop-soul crossover

LaMonte McLemore, a St. Louis native who co-founded the Grammy-winning vocal group The 5th Dimension, has died at age 90. McLemore died at his home in Las Vegas on Feb. 3, 2026, after a stroke. He was surrounded by family, and his death was attributed to natural causes.

McLemore was part of the original five-member lineup that helped The 5th Dimension become one of the most commercially successful vocal acts of the late 1960s and early 1970s, built on a distinctive blend of pop, soul and psychedelic-era production.

From early ensemble work to a defining lineup

Before the group’s breakthrough, McLemore sang in a jazz-oriented vocal ensemble that included future bandmate Marilyn McCoo. After that project ended, McLemore, McCoo, Billy Davis Jr., Ronald Townson and Florence LaRue formed a new group in the mid-1960s that would soon be renamed The 5th Dimension.

In that configuration, the group became closely associated with a run of tightly arranged, radio-friendly hits that crossed genre and audience boundaries during a period when American popular music was rapidly fragmenting into specialized formats.

Hit records, awards and a major cultural footprint

The 5th Dimension earned six Grammy Awards during its peak years, including Record of the Year twice: for “Up, Up and Away” (1967) and “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (1969). “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” a medley drawn from the stage musical “Hair,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for six weeks.

Other major charting singles from the group’s original era included “One Less Bell to Answer,” “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All,” and “If I Could Reach You.” The original lineup remained intact until 1975, when McCoo and Davis left to pursue work as a duo.

• Key hits: “Up, Up and Away,” “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In”
• Peak period: late 1960s through early 1970s
• Original lineup: McLemore, McCoo, LaRue, Davis Jr., Townson

Harlem Cultural Festival and later reassessment

The group’s presence at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival—an event later widely revisited through the 2021 documentary film “Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”—added an enduring visual record to their legacy. The documentary renewed attention to performances that had not been broadly available for decades, placing The 5th Dimension’s work within a larger narrative of Black music and public culture in 1969.

A parallel career behind the camera

McLemore also maintained a long career in photography. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and worked as an aerial photographer. He later became known for sports and celebrity photography, with images published in magazines including Jet and Ebony over decades, and he also worked for other national outlets.

McLemore’s career spanned performance and visual documentation, moving between the recording studio, television stages and editorial photography.

Survivors

McLemore is survived by his wife of 30 years, Mieko McLemore; a daughter, Ciara; a son, Darin; a sister, Joan; and three grandchildren.