Ronald “Khalis” Bell, a co-founder and member of the band, Kool & the Gang, has died at 68 years.
Bell died in his US Virgin Islands home recently in the presence of his wife,Tia Sinclair Bell, according to publicist Sujata Murthy. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.
Bell and his brother, Robert “Kool” Bell, teamed up with their neighborhood friends Dennis “D.T.” Thomas, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West in 1964 to establish a musical group. They group was first named the Jazziacs and later changed to Kool and the Gang.
After forming the group in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964, it went to become one of the prominent groups of the 1970s which blended jazz, funk, R&B, and pop. The group’s soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever won a Grammy in 1978.
Bell co-wrote many of the biggest hits of the group including “Celebration”, “Ladies Night,” “Jungle Boogie” and “Summer Madness,” which was used in films like “Rocky.”
Bell is survived by his wife Tia Sinclair Bel and 10 children.
