FUNK LEGEND
George ‘Funky’ Brown dead at 74: Kool & The Gang drummer and co-founder of iconic band dies after cancer battle
KOOL & The Gang drummer and founding member George Brown has died at 74.
The musician, often known as George "Funky" Brown, spent 59 years as a songwriter and performer for the iconic band.
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Sources close to the drummer noted that he's been battling stage-4 lung cancer for some time and died at his home in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday evening, per .
"George Brown died November 16, 2023, in Los Angeles after a battle with cancer," a representative for Brown told the outlet.
"Brown has co-written many of the band's iconic songs, including Ladies Night, Too Hot, Jungle Boogie, Celebration, and Cherish."
They added: "When asked to describe his music, Brown always replied, 'The sound of happiness.'"
The spokesperson also noted that the public could make donations to the in the drummer's honor.
Brown is survived by his five children and wife, Hanh.
After being diagnosed, Brown recovered for some time and began touring with the funk band again, per local CBS affiliate .
The cancer then returned earlier this year.
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Brown would make music history in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 when Kool & The Gang was formed.
Founding members Brown, brothers Robert and Ronald Bell, Dennis Thomas, Robert Mickens, Ricky West, and Charles Smith created the groundbreaking funk sound and quickly gained popularity.
The group landed its first record deal with De-Lite Records, and a few years later, in 1969, their debut album Kool And The Gang was released.
In 1973, the band gained considerable fame after hits like Hollywood Swinging and Jungle Boogie.
Other songs, including Celebration, Emergency, and Ladies Night, earned them two million album sales in the United States.
Celebration notably topped the charts after its release.
Over more than five decades later, Kool & The Gang earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, a Soul Train Legend award, and a Music Business Association Chairman's Award.
On October 8, 2015, the band was also awarded a star on the .
The last living member of the band is now Robert "Kool" Bell.
For Kool & The Gang, it was always about bringing out joy in the audience.
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"We'd join hands, and you'd say to yourself, 'let's go make some people happy,'" Brown said in his last interview before his death with KCAL News.
And to those struggling with cancer themselves, he stressed, "don't give up, never give up."
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