Ronald Khalis Bell of Kool & the Gang Dies at 68
- 4 years ago
NewNews
Ronald Khalis Bell, who with his brother and some neighborhood friends formed the jazz-funk-R&B band that became Kool & the Gang, and who was the lead writer on its biggest hit, the omnipresent feel-good song “Celebration, ” died on Wednesday at his home in the Virgin Islands. He was 68. His wife, Tia Sinclair Bell, announced his death through a spokeswoman. The cause was not given. Mr. Khalis Bell, who was also a producer and was often credited under his Muslim name, Khalis Bayyan, began dabbling in music as a child, mastering saxophone and keyboards and playing with his brother Robert, a bassist who picked up the nickname Kool in elementary school. The Bell household in Jersey City, N. J., was steeped in jazz influence; the boys’ father, Bobby, was a professional boxer whose friends included the jazz master Thelonious Monk. Miles Davis also sometimes visited. The Bell brothers and friends — Spike Mickens, Dennis Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown and Charles Smith — began playing together in 1964 and performed under several names, including the Jazziacs, before settling on Kool & the Gang in the late 1960s. The band, its personnel changing over the years but the Bell brothers remaining at the core, had success in the 1970s, especially on the R&B charts, with “Jungle Boogie” (1973), “Ladies’ Night” (1979) and other songs. Then, after adding the vocalist J. T. Taylor, it found a new level of fame with “Celebration, ” which topped both the R&B and pop charts in 1980 and became a go-to crowd-pleaser at sporting events, fireworks displays and anywhere else that joy and enthusiasm were in order.“What do you call a wedding D. J. who doesn’t own a copy of ‘Celebration’ by Kool & the Gang? ” The Sunday News of Lancaster, Pa., asked in 2002 when the group played there. “Doomed. ”Robert Bell said the song was born of euphoria after an appearance at the American Music Awards.
All data is taken from the source: http://nytimes.com
Article Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/arts/music/ronald-khalis-bell-kool-gang-dead.html
Ronald Khalis Bell, who with his brother and some neighborhood friends formed the jazz-funk-R&B band that became Kool & the Gang, and who was the lead writer on its biggest hit, the omnipresent feel-good song “Celebration, ” died on Wednesday at his home in the Virgin Islands. He was 68. His wife, Tia Sinclair Bell, announced his death through a spokeswoman. The cause was not given. Mr. Khalis Bell, who was also a producer and was often credited under his Muslim name, Khalis Bayyan, began dabbling in music as a child, mastering saxophone and keyboards and playing with his brother Robert, a bassist who picked up the nickname Kool in elementary school. The Bell household in Jersey City, N. J., was steeped in jazz influence; the boys’ father, Bobby, was a professional boxer whose friends included the jazz master Thelonious Monk. Miles Davis also sometimes visited. The Bell brothers and friends — Spike Mickens, Dennis Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown and Charles Smith — began playing together in 1964 and performed under several names, including the Jazziacs, before settling on Kool & the Gang in the late 1960s. The band, its personnel changing over the years but the Bell brothers remaining at the core, had success in the 1970s, especially on the R&B charts, with “Jungle Boogie” (1973), “Ladies’ Night” (1979) and other songs. Then, after adding the vocalist J. T. Taylor, it found a new level of fame with “Celebration, ” which topped both the R&B and pop charts in 1980 and became a go-to crowd-pleaser at sporting events, fireworks displays and anywhere else that joy and enthusiasm were in order.“What do you call a wedding D. J. who doesn’t own a copy of ‘Celebration’ by Kool & the Gang? ” The Sunday News of Lancaster, Pa., asked in 2002 when the group played there. “Doomed. ”Robert Bell said the song was born of euphoria after an appearance at the American Music Awards.
All data is taken from the source: http://nytimes.com
Article Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/10/arts/music/ronald-khalis-bell-kool-gang-dead.html