Artist page

The Empires were a vocal group from Harlem, NY, formed in 1953. The lineup consisted of Johnny "Buddy" Barnes as the lead tenor, Les Cooper as the first tenor, Bobby Dunn as the baritone, and William Goodman as the bass. The group signed to the Harlem label in late 1954, where owner Morty Shad renamed Barnes "Johnny Ace, Jr." to leverage the recent passing of the R&B legend. Their third single, "Somebody Changed the Lock," was credited to Lightning Junior & the Empires, with "Lightning Junior" being blues veteran Champion Jack Dupree. After Harlem folded in mid-1955, the Empires signed with Mercury, releasing "I Want to Know" on the Wing subsidiary. Their follow-up, "Looking for Love," was released under the name the Prestos. They returned to Wing in early 1956 as the Empires again and later moved to the Whirlin' Disc label for "Linda." A re-recorded version of "Magic Mirror" was released under the name the Whirlers. Les Cooper later formed the Soul Rockers, achieving a hit in 1962.

For any edit requests, please reach out to info@rovr.live