Ronnie Dyson

Artist Biography by Ron Wynn Washington, D.C., vocalist Ronnie Dyson enjoyed both stage and R&B success. He was the lead actor in the Broadway production of the musical Hair, and his initial hit was a song from the off-Broadway musical Salvation. "(If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You" was both Top Ten R&B and pop in 1970, and "I Don't Wanna Cry" was also Top Ten R&B that same year. Dyson kept recording for Columbia until 1978, scoring one more hit in 1976 with a very different type of song, "The More You Do It (The More I Like It Done to Me)," a marked departure from the vulnerable, anguished numbers that had characterized his approach in the past. He moved to Cotillion in the '80s, but didn't have much success there. Dyson also was in the film Putney Swope. His final recording was "See the Clown" in 1990. He died that year of a heart attack.