Cavin Leon Yarbrough

Yarbrough & Peoples are best known for their crossover dance/funk hit “Don’t Stop the Music.” Released in 1980, the song spent five weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in 1981 and also reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The RIAA gold-certified single was featured on the pair’s also gold-certified debut album, The Two of Us. The album also reached No. 1 for two weeks on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 16 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The duo went on to score another Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with “Don’t Waste Your Time” in 1984. Its engaging mix of R&B, soul, funk, pop and dance — graced by its smooth and spirited vocals — also sparked three additional top 10s on the chart during the pair’s ’80s heyday: “Heartbeats,” “Guilty” and “I Wouldn’t Lie.”

Born in Dallas, Yarbrough was a classically trained pianist who first met fellow Dallas native Peoples as youngsters taking piano lessons. The pair’s friendship and creative bond later led to establishing their own band. It was Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band who discovered Yarbrough & Peoples. He brought them to the attention of Lonnie Simmons, who signed them to his Los Angeles-based label, Total Experience Records.

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