Melvin Franklin

David English was born in Montgomery, Alabama to Rose English, a teenage mother from nearby Mobile.[1] His biological father was the preacher of the English family’s church in Mobile; he impregnated her through rape.[1] Following David’s birth, Rose English married Willard Franklin and moved to Detroit, her grandmother insisting young David be left behind in her care.[1] David English finally moved to Detroit with his mother and stepfather in 1952 at age ten.[1]

Taking on his stepfather’s surname for his stage name as a teenager, David English—now Melvin Franklin—was a member of a number of local singing groups in Detroit, including The Voice Masters with Lamont Dozier and David Ruffin, and frequently performed with Richard Street.[2] Franklin often referred to Street and Ruffin as his “cousins”