Kool & The Gang

The Jersey City band that started out playing jazz in basements and ended up writing the song every party still plays. In 1964 brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell formed the Jazziacs with friends mostly from Lincoln High School: Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, Ricky Westfield, and Woody Sparrow. After cycling through several names, they signed to De-Lite as Kool & the Gang and released an all-instrumental debut in 1969. Wild and Peaceful put their funk on pop radio in 1973. Jungle Boogie reached No.4 on the Hot 100, and Hollywood Swinging also made the Top 10.

The second act began in 1979, when singer James "J.T." Taylor joined and Eumir Deodato took over production. Ladies' Night went platinum. Celebration, from Celebrate!, became the band's only Hot 100 No.1, and it greeted the American hostages coming home from Iran in January 1981. Get Down on It, Joanna, and Cherish kept them on the charts through the decade, and Emergency became their best-selling album. Hip-hop then gave the catalog a third life, with the Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, and Madonna all building tracks on their grooves. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted them in 2024. Ronald Bell died in 2020 and George Brown in 2023, and Robert "Kool" Bell has kept the band touring.