Harvey Fuqua, lead singer of the seminal 1950s doo-wop group the Moonglows who mentored Marvin Gaye and became an executive at Motown Records, died Tuesday at a Detroit hospital. The Associated Press said he was 80 and had had a heart attack.

The Moonglows, who were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, were one of the most popular vocal groups in the first wave of rock ‘n’ roll.

Their hits, such as “Sincerely” (1954) and “See Saw” (1956), combined slick harmonies with what pop music critic Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times termed a “raw, teen-directed urgency.”

Harvey Fuqua was born in Louisville. After moving to Cleveland, he and classmate Bobby Lester formed a vocal group with singers Prentiss Barnes, Alexander Graves and guitarist Billy Johnson.

Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed caught the act in 1952. Freed, credited with coining the term “rock ‘n’ roll,” pushed the group to change its name from the Crazy Sounds to the Moonglows, a play on Freed’s radio name, Moondog.

By 1957, Lester had left the group and a personality dispute between him and Fuqua caused the other members to quit. Fuqua then hired a D.C. group, the Marquees, to perform as Harvey and the Moonglows. The group included a then-unknown Gaye, who sang lead on “Mama Loochie” (1958).

The group broke up in 1961, and Fuqua continued as a soloist – recording a hit duet with Etta James, “Spoonful” (1961). But by the 1960s, Fuqua focused less attention on performing and more on promoting new talent.

He moved to Detroit, where he started the Tri-Phi and Harvey record labels with Gwen Gordy, whom he later married.

In 1963, Fuqua disbanded the labels and joined Motown as the head of its artist development department, bringing the labels’ rosters and Gaye with him.