The
Los Angeles-based group was composed of
Gwen Dickey (vocals), Henry Garner (drums), Terral "Terry" Santiel (congas), Lequeint "Duke" Jobe (bass), Michael Moore (saxophone), Kenny Copeland (trumpet, lead vocals), Kenji Brown (guitar, lead vocals), Freddie Dunn (trumpet), and Victor Nix (keyboards). The group began in the early 1970s when members of several backup bands from the
Watts and
Inglewood areas of Los Angeles united under the name Total Concept Unlimited. Starr introduced them to
Norman Whitfield. Whitfield, after a decade at Motown, wanted to start a company of his own. He took the T.C.U.
octet under his wing and signed them to his label. The group, now called Magic Wand, began working with
Yvonne Fair and became the studio and concert band for
the Undisputed Truth. During this time, Whitfield was contacted by film director
Michael Schultz, fresh from the success of his first feature,
Cooley High. Schultz offered Whitfield the opportunity to score his next picture,
Car Wash. Whitfield would use the film to launch his new group and began composing music based on script outlines. The group's follow-up album,
Rose Royce II: In Full Bloom, produced two top ten singles, "Do Your Dance" and "
Ooh Boy". The single "
Is It Love You're After?" was released in 1979, taken from the album
Rainbow Connection IV, the last album with lead singer Gwen Dickey before she left to embark on a solo career. It was the band's fourth highest-charting single in the UK. The group followed with a series of modest successes that reached the charts but never gained the status that their previous songs did. However, the remaining members regrouped, adjusted the line-up, and kept the group somewhat popular in the UK, where they remained a marquee attraction. Rose Royce was featured in
TV One's seasonal series,
Unsung during the spring of 2010. The story featured the successes and internal bickering of the group. Dickey, Copeland, Jobe, Moore and Garner were the only members of the band who gave interviews throughout the program. Dickey now performs as a solo artist in the UK but mentioned during the interview that she would not mind performing with the group once again. From 2012 to 2013, R&B vocalist
Debelah Morgan joined the band as their lead singer for a few shows. Additionally,
Bag Raiders and
Daft Punk sampled their single "First Come, First Serve" with the songs "
Shooting Stars" and "
Too Long" respectively. Gwen Dickey formed her own version of Rose Royce - Gwen Dickey's Rose Royce and in 2021 and 2022 toured the UK nationally. In 2022 Gwen featured on the Giants of Soul Tour - taking in 15 UK venues performing with Deniece Williams, Alexander O'Neal, Tunde (Lighthouse Family) and Jaki Graham. In 2023 Gwen Dickey's Rose Royce headlined at The London Palladium == Discography ==