18/11/2023
Grazie per la musica 🥁🖤🌎🌍🌏
🦅
George Brown, co-founder, drummer, songwriter of Kool & The Gang best known for the worldwide hits “Ladies Night,” “Get Down On It,” “Fresh, Celebration,” “Too Hot,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Joanna,” died November 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, CA after a battle with cancer. He was 74.
In 1964, George “Funky” Brown and Ricky Westfield joined a young Ronald Bell and his brother, Robert “Kool” Bell, and neighborhood friends Spike Mickens, Dennis Thomas and Charles Smith to create a unique musical blend of jazz, soul and funk.
At first calling themselves the Jazziacs, the band went through various name changes -- The New Dimensions, The Soul Town Band, Kool & the Flames – before settling on their famous moniker Kool & the Gang. The band officially launched in 1969 and 54 years later the band has become true Funk, Soul, and R&B legends.
Brown has co-written many of the band's iconic songs including “Ladies Night,” “Too Hot,“ “Jungle Boogie,” “Summer Madness,” “Open Sesame,” “Celebration,” “Cherish” and others.
The band has earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits and 31 gold and platinum albums to date.
When asked to describe his music, Brown always replied with its “The sound of happiness.”
Brown’s signature drumming on the early Kool & The Gang recordings has been heavily sampled years later by countless artists across all genres ranging from the Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Cypress Hill, P. Diddy, DJ Kool, Mase, Too Short, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh prince, Boogie Down Productions, Brand Nubian, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, N.W.A., Kris’s Kross Jermaine Dupri and The Killers.
After a decade long hiatus from making new music, the band released People Just Want To Have Fun which Brown produced.
Brown also released his memoir in 2023, "Too Hot: Kool & The Gang And Me."
Brown is survived by his wife Hanh Brown and his children Dorian Melvin BrownJorge Lewis Brown, Gregory Brown, Jordan Xuan Clarence Brown, Aaron Tien Joseph Brown
PHOTO: Courtesy of KTFA Entertainment