Ronald "Khalis" Bell, a founding member of Kool & The Gang, has died aged 68. The multi-award-winning band are best known for their songs Celebration, Ladies Night, Get Down On It and Joanna.
Kool & The Gang co-founder Ronald Bell has died aged 68, a representative for the singer has confirmed.
Bell died on Wednesday at his home in the US Virgin Islands with his wife by his side. No cause of death was released.
Bell, who co-founded Kool & The Gang in New Jersey in 1964, was responsible for their style of music which is described as a mixture of funk, soul and R&B.
The band members are his brother Robert "Kool" Bell and friends Charles Smith, Ricky Westfield, Spike Mickens, Dennis Thomas and George Brown.
The band were one of the biggest of the 1970s and won the album of the year Grammy in 1978 for their work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
They are also one of the most sampled artists of all time, with the horns from their 1973 funky jam Jungle Boogie featuring on hundreds of other songs.
In 2015, Kool & the Gang were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
