Leonard 'Hub' Hubbard, Co-Founder and Original Bassist of The Roots, Dies at 62

 

Fourteen years after departing the group in 2007 due to a multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer) diagnosis, Leonard Hubbard, a founding member of the Grammy-winning hip-hop group The Roots, has lost his battle with the disease.

Hubbard, better known by his sobriquet “Hub,” died at the age of 62 Thursday. His wife Stephanie told Philadelphia’s ABC 6 that after being in remission until last month, Hubbard’s health took a drastic turn Wednesday night.

Hubbard found himself immobile after being energetic the days before. Stephanie dropped him off for treatment at Lankenau Hospital but could not stay with him due to Covid restrictions. She was informed of his passing the next day.

"I was called to the hospital. They told me what had happened that he had passed. I went to the hospital and was able to sit with him," she told ABC 6, noting that her husband, who had decided to focus on his work as a composer after he left the group, had just finished a major project titled “The Awakening” the previous week.

"He wanted to be known for the type of music he was composing," she said. "And before he died, he was sitting there at night listening to the music, and he was so happy with it,” Stephanie said. “When you hear his project, you'll see he was so much more than what people know.”

Following the news The Root’s Twitter account posted a tribute to Hubbard, who along with Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Malik “Malik B.” Abdul Basit were the original lineup for the seminal hip-hop group.

"It's with the heaviest of hearts that we say goodbye to our brother Leonard Nelson Hubbard," the post read. "May your transition bring peace to your family to your friends to your fans and all of those who loved you. Rest in Melody Hub."

It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we say goodbye to our brother Leonard Nelson Hubbard.
May your transition bring peace to your family to your friends to your fans and all of those who loved you.

Rest in Melody Hub pic.twitter.com/2dknTLDNLh

— The Roots (@theroots) December 17, 2021

Hubbard’s tenure with the group began in 1992 and lasted 15 years. His bass guitar anchored the signature sound of the band. He played on all their releases during this time including the classics “Things Fall Apart” and “The Tipping Point.”

This is the second death of a founding member of The Roots. Malik B. died in July 2020; a cause of death was not released.

Astroworld Victims Suffocated While Being Crushed to Death

All 10 people who died because of the deadly crowd surge at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival last month, which occurred while Scott was on stage, suffocated.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office announced its conclusion on Thursday that the victims died of "compression asphyxia." One of the deceased, Danish Baig, had cocaine, methamphetamine and ethanol in his system, but the drugs were contributory and not the main cause of death.

The conclusion by the medical examiner that the victims were essentially crushed to death came one day after crews finally started disassembling the Astroworld Festival stage, which stood as a grim reminder of the deadly concert 40 days later, and on the day Scott announced that he would be working with the United States Conference of Mayors to ensure a similar tragedy does not happen in the future.

“This mass tragedy reinforced the serious issue of festival safety and security,” read an agreement obtained by Variety about the partnership with the organization. “As festivals with large crowd sizes continue to enjoy popularity, organizers, city officials and other stakeholders must have a clear understanding about best practices, current vulnerabilities, and access to the most innovative technology to ensure every festival is as safe as possible.”

For the Astroworld victims who died and the 300 or so other people that were injured in the crowd of 50,000 that attended the event, the announcement from Scott did not do much to ease their grief or assuage their anger.

Following the announcement that the victim's deaths were ruled to be accidental, the family of Bharti Shahani issued this scathing statement through their attorney:

"The medical examiner's findings confirm Bharti's family's worst fears," James Lassiter said. "Their beloved daughter's last living moments were surely marked with suffering, panic, and terror. It's a horrific, inescapable image that no parent should have to endure. But that is the sad reality for the Shahanis and the nine other families that received this terrible news."

Along with 27-year-old Baig and Bharti (22), the other victims were Rodolfo Pena (23), Madison Dubiski (23), Axel Avila (21), Franco Patino (21), Jacob Jurinek (20), Brianna Rodriguez (16), John Hilgert (14) and Ezra Blount (9).

Joe Simon, Chart-Topping R&B Crooner, Dead at 85

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Monday, Joe Simon, the soulful crooner known as “The Mouth of the South,” died in his longtime hometown near Chicago. Simon, who won a best R&B vocal performance, male Grammy in 1969 for “The Chokin’ Kind,” was 85.

Born in 1936 in Simmesport, La., Simon began his career singing at his father's church but did not really pursue a career in music until he headed to California in the 1950s.

"As a youngster I moved to Oakland – probably in the late 50s – because I was tired of Simmesport, Louisiana. It didn’t have anything to offer me,” wrote Simon of his key reason — along with cotton-picking, which he hated, being a key source of income in the area — for heading to the Golden State."

After arriving in Richmond (near Oakland, California) Simon joined the Golden West Gospel Singers, which went on to eventually turn into a secular doo-wop group and record "Little Island Girl" and “You Left Me Here to Cry Alone” as the Golden Tones in 1959.

It wasn’t until the 60s, however, when Simon — who was influenced by and often compared to Sam Cooke — went solo that his meteoric rise in music began.

BREAKING NEWS: Sad news. The great soul singer Joe Simon passed away last night. Many of y'all have heard me jamming his music, especially the hit song, "The Chokin' Kind." His daughter, Denice, sent me an IG DM personally notifying me of his passing because she 1/2 pic.twitter.com/FFg96rnY3K

— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) December 14, 2021

The singer, who often recalled spending his early years in California homeless and sometimes living in a chicken coop, the singer got future funk greats Sly Stone and Larry Graham to play on his 1964 song “My Adorable One” which became his breakthrough hit.

He followed that success up with "Let's Do It Over" in 1956. The song reached No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart and was the catalyst for an era that saw Simon go on to notch three No. 1s and 14 top 10s on it — including his highest-charting single. 1975’s “Get Down, Get Down (Get on the Floor),” a No. 1 R&B hit that crossed over to reach the top ten of the Hot 100.

Simon left secular music behind in 1983 to focus on the gospel. The preacher’s son became a traveling minister. He did not turn his back on music entirely. In the late 90s, Simon released the gospel album “This Story Must Be Told.”

Simon, whose music has been widely sampled, including in the Outkast hit “So Fresh, So Clean,” and Lil Kim’s chart-climbing opus “Magic Stick,” seemed pleased with his career on reflection.

In his 2016 documentary, “Looking Back with Joe Simon” he said, “I went from the cotton field to the chicken coop to a superstar of rhythm and blues — you can’t tell me I ain’t gonna be nothin’.”