Co-Founder of Kool & the Gang, Ronald ‘Khalis’ Bell, Dies at 68

 

Ronadl “Khalis” Bell is dead.

The co-founder of the funk, R&B and pop supergroup Kool & the Gang, reportedly died suddenly Wednesday at his home in the U.S. Virgin Islands, And this was confirmed by Sujata Murthy of Universal Music Enterprises.

The cause of his death has yet to be made public.

Bell will be remembered as a composer, arranger, producer and performer, and the driving force behind one of the most successful groups of the past five decades.

A bit about him per THR:

In 1964, he and older brother Robert “Kool” Bell joined neighborhood friends Spike Mickens, Dennis Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown and Charles Smith in Jersey City, New Jersey, to create a signature blend of jazz, soul and funk.

He was 68.