Funeral arrangements have been made for Robert "Big Sonny" Edwards, one of the original members of the iconic Philadelphia soul music group the Intruders.
A service to celebrate Edwards' life will be held Saturday at the Kingdom Hall Jehova's Witness located at 19th and Somerset in Philadelphia at 1 p.m.
The family celebration of life will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Olney Arts Center located at 1342 West Chew Avenue.
Edwards passed away Saturday, October 15 after suffering a heart attack on the 11th, his family confirmed with NBC10. Edwards was 74.
Edwards, along with Sam “Little Sonny” Brown, Eugene “Bird” Daughtry and Phil Terry formed the Intruders in 1960 as a doo wop group. They gained widespread fame when they worked with legendary Philadelphia songwriters and record producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in the mid-60s, becoming pioneers in Philadelphia soul along with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and the O’Jays. The Intruders later signed to Gamble and Huff’s influential record label Philadelphia International Records.
The Intruders recorded several hit songs during their career, including their 1968 single “Cowboys to Girls” which reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The group disbanded in the 1970s and Eugene Daughtry later formed a new lineup in the 1980s without any of the original members. Both Daughtry and Brown passed away in the 1990s. With Edwards' death, Terry is the last surviving original member of the group.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
"We love him, we miss him," Edwards' niece told NBC10, "He left a legacy for our family and the city of Philadelphia."
