Don Varner

{{Infobox person | name = Don Wilson Varner | birth_place = Birmingham, Alabama | death_date = 2002 | death_place = Moreno Valley, California }}

'''Don Wilson Varner''' (25 June 1943 – 7 October 2002) was an American soul singer. Varner was a baritone who sang uptempo soul (later appreciated by Northern soul fans) and ballads.

==Career== Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Varner grew up in the same neighborhood as Eddie Kendricks, co-founder of The Temptations.<ref name=Hamilton>Andrew Hamilton. [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/don-varner-mn0000195220/biography "Don Varner"] at AllMusic.com. Retrieved 5 September 2013.</ref> Varner moved to Chicago after high school to pursue his music career but returned to Alabama after six years to record at Rick Hall's FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals.<ref name=Hamilton/> He wrote songs including "I Keep Holdin' On" for Sam & Dave (with William Crump). Varner also worked with Quin Ivy in Sheffield, Alabama<ref name=Hamilton/> and released several songs including "Masquerade"(1967), "Down in Texas"(1967),<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.discogs.com/artist/830217-Don-Varner| title = Don Varner {{!}} Discography {{!}} Discogs| website = Discogs}}</ref> and "Tear Stained Face" on the South Camp and Quinvy labels.

Varner did not release many recordings but performed numerous live shows in the South with other major soul performers.<ref name=Hamilton/> He moved to California in the 1980s and toured as the lead singer of the Johnny Otis Show.<ref name=Hamilton/> He toured numerous European music festivals in 1985. In his later career, he began to record gospel music. He died in Moreno Valley, California in 2002 of a heart attack at the age of 59. An album of his music from 1968 to 1974 entitled ''Finally Go Over!'' was released posthumously.

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varner, Don}} Category:American soul singers Category:African-American male singer-songwriters Category:American male singer-songwriters Category:Singers from Birmingham, Alabama Category:1943 births Category:2002 deaths Category:People from Ensley, Alabama Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:Singer-songwriters from Alabama