The Miracles' Bobby Rogers Dies at 73

Bobby Rogers, who co-founded The Miracles with Smokey Robinson, died Sunday at the age of 73.

The Associated Press reports that Rogers died around 6 a.m. at his home in the Detroit suburb of Southfield following several years of illness.

Rogers created the legendary Motown group in 1956 with Robinson, Ronnie White, Pete Moore and Claudette Rogers, his cousin. Their hit songs include "The Tracks of My Tears," "I Second That Emotion," "Tears of a Clown," "Shop Around" and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me."

Rogers also collaborated with Robinson on writing such tracks as "The Way You Do the Things You Do" for The Temptations, "First I Look at the Purse" (The Contours) and "Going to a Go-Go" (The Miracles). Rogers' voice is also in the background on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," saying: "It's just a groovy party, man, I can dig it."

"Another soldier in my life has fallen," Rogers said in a statement to the AP. "Bobby Rogers was my brother and a really good friend. He and I were born on the exact same day in the same hospital in Detroit. I am really going to miss him. I loved him very much."