Kool & The Gang

The new album from the original founding member of Kool & the Gang — 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees! Drummer George “Funky” Brown, along with Robert “Kool” Bell on bass, his brother Ronald Bell on tenor and lead vocalist James “J.T.” Taylor, was one of the main songwriters in their pop/R&B band Kool & The Gang, whose classic hits like “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging,” “Celebration,” “Get Down on It” and “Joanna” made for a novel and immensely successful pop-funk groove in the 1970s and ‘80s. Such songs have been featured in films (“Jungle Boogie” was in Pulp Fiction while “Summer Madness” appeared in Rocky) and have been sampled countless times by artists including DJ Kool, Mase, Too Short, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Boogie Down Productions, Brand Nubian, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, N.W.A., Kris Kross and Jermaine Dupri. Aside from being crowned 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Brown, with Kool & the Gang, has been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame–and there’s a street in Jersey City named in the band’s honor. The Grammy-winning group has received the Soul Train Legend Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The new album from the original founding member of Kool & the Gang — 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees! Drummer George “Funky” Brown, along with Robert “Kool” Bell on bass, his brother Ronald Bell on tenor and lead vocalist James “J.T.” Taylor, was one of the main songwriters in their pop/R&B band Kool & The Gang, whose classic hits like “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging,” “Celebration,” “Get Down on It” and “Joanna” made for a novel and immensely successful pop-funk groove in the 1970s and ‘80s. Such songs have been featured in films (“Jungle Boogie” was in Pulp Fiction while “Summer Madness” appeared in Rocky) and have been sampled countless times by artists including DJ Kool, Mase, Too Short, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Boogie Down Productions, Brand Nubian, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, N.W.A., Kris Kross and Jermaine Dupri. Aside from being crowned 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, Brown, with Kool & the Gang, has been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame–and there’s a street in Jersey City named in the band’s honor. The Grammy-winning group has received the Soul Train Legend Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Kool & The Gang: Robert "Kool" Bell (bass, background vocals); Amir Abdul-Salaam Bayyan (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Charles Smith (vocals, guitar); Dennis "D.T." Thomas (vocals, alto saxophone); Robert "Spike" Mickens (vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion); Larry Gittens (vocals, trumpet flueglhorn); Ricky West, Earl Toon Jr. (vocals, keyboards); James "J.T." Taylor, Donal Boyce (vocals); Khallis Bayyan (flute, soprano & tenor saxophones, keyboards, synthesizer, background vocals); Michael Ray (trumpet, background vocals); Otha Nash (trombone); Curtis "Fitz" Williams (keyboards, synthesizer); George "Funky" Brown (drums, percussion).