photo credit:  Gregory Reed // Featureflash Photo Agency // Bruce Yeung // Shutterstock

This weekend was a tough one for hip hop and R&B, with the deaths of three legends that can be accredited for so much in music today.

Music Exec Andre Harrell, the founder of Uptown Records, the label that bridged the worlds between R&B and Hip Hop. Before creating his own label, Harrell was worked for Def Jam Records as vice president and then became a general manager of the label. Through his label, Uptown Records, Andre founded artists Diddy, Mary J Blige, Heavy D and the Boyz, Jodeci, Teddy Riley and more. Andre died on Thursday night at his home in West Hollywood, he was 59-years-old. Harrell’s ex-wife said that the cause was heart failure, adding that Harrell had been suffering from heart problems for some time.

Singer Betty Wright passed away this week as well from endometrial cancer also known as uterine cancer, on Sunday at the age of 66. Wright was a Grammy award winner and 6 time nominee. Best known for her songs “Clean Up Woman,””No  Pain, No Gain,” and “Tonight is the Night.” Her music was sampled by many rappers and singers including Beyonce and Chance the Rapper.

 

Little Richard, who laid the foundation for Rock & Roll, passed away this weekend at the age of 87 from bone cancer. Little Richard was known as one of the originators. He was one of the first people to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Earning a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1993 Grammy’s.

Written by Clarke Jones