Edward James Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, brother to songwriter and record producer Brian Holland.
Eddie Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, and he has a younger brother, Brian, who also is a songwriter and producer whom he also worked with.
Before Motown, as a singer Holland would collaborate with Berry Gordy in 1958 at Mercury Records for the track âÂÂYou (You You You You)â which was cowritten and produced by Gordy. Gordy went on to start Motown in 1959 and Eddie Holland and his brother, Brian, would go on and write music for Motown. Although Holland was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hits such as "Jamie", released in 1961, he grew tired of performing and joined his brother Brian and Lamont Dozier to form the songwriting team HollandâÂÂDozierâÂÂHolland, serving as the trio's lyricist. H-D-H was responsible for writing and producing much of the material that became known as the Motown sound, including hit records by Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes, the Four Tops, and The Isley Brothers, among others. Eddie Holland was not credited as a producer for any of their Motown hits; Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier were the credited producers, with only the songwriting was credited to Holland-Dozier-Holland. However, when the trio broke from Motown and founded their own labels in 1968 (Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records), the full H-D-H team including Eddie were credited as producers.
Eddie Holland has written or co-written 143 hits in the US charts and 80 in the UK.
Holland also worked with record producer Norman Whitfield on lyrics for the songs he produced for the Marvelettes and the Temptations, like "Too Many Fish in the Sea" and "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep".
Holland also composed songs for the First Wives Club musical, in 2009.
Holland has been involved in several Civil court cases regarding tax, loans, and music rights, in 1985, 1988, 1996, 2017, and 2020.
In 2019, Brian (along with brother Eddie and Dave Thompson) co-authored an autobiography of HollandâÂÂDozierâÂÂHolland, entitled Come and Get These Memories, named after the hit single by Martha and the Vandellas.