War was originally recorded by the Temptations but then Motown was pressured to release it as a single. Songwriter Norman Whitfield (with Barrett Strong) re-recorded it with Edwin Starr and released it in June 1970. It became a smash hit and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of August 29, 1970 and stayed there for three weeks.
War, an anti-Vietnam War song, is the most successful song of Starr's career and is the best known protest song.
Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1970. Starr received a Grammy nomination for War in 1971 for Best R&B Male Vocal. His version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
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