Ohio Players Frontman Sugarfoot Passes Away!

The Funk Legend passes away. The Ohio Players leader LeRoy "Sugarfoot" Bonner passes away!

The funk era with its bouncy beats and catchy hooks bore the hip-hop nation.

Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and R&B. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground. Funk songs are often based on an extended vamp on a single chord, distinguishing it from R&B and soul songs, which are centered on chord progressions.

Like much African-inspired music, funk typically consists of a complex groove with rhythm instruments such as electric guitar, electric bass, Hammond organ, and drums playing interlocking rhythms. Funk bands sometimes have a horn section of several saxophones, trumpets, and in some cases, a trombone, which plays rhythmic "hits".

Many of the most famous bands in the genre also played disco and soul extensively. Funk samples have been used extensively in genres including hip hop, house music, and drum and bass. It is also the main influence of go-go, a subgenre associated with funk

You can credit funk music for the rise of the West Coast gangsta music. Rappers Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eazy E, Bone Thugs 'N Harmony, The D.O.C., DJ Quik, The Dogg Pound, Warren G and Nate Dogg came from the era of g-funk.

G-Funk (which uses funk with an artificially altered tempo) incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-Funk tunes, and a high-pitched portamento saw wave synthesizer lead. The lyrical content depended on the artist and could consist of sex, drugs, violence, and women, but also of love for a city, love for friends and relaxing words. There was also a slurred “lazy” way of rapping in order to clarify words and stay in rhythmic cadence.

LeRoy "Sugarfoot" Bonner, the lead singer The Ohio Players passed away on Sunday.

The Ohio Players were credited for the hit singles: Love Rollercoaster, Fire, The Funky Worm, Skin Tight and I Want To Be Free.

The Ohio Players formed in 1959. They were known as The Ohio Untouchables. The Ohio Players made rust city Dayton, Ohio the place "Where funk was born!"

The Dayton Daily News reports that members of the singer's family reported the news and fans are sending their condolences to the funk legend.

“He was a great person with a lot of wisdom not just in music, but in life,” said Keith Harrison of the bands FAZE-O and the Dazz Band.

Bonner, 69, who helped make Dayton the Land of Funk, died Saturday following a battle with cancer in Trotwood, according to an “Official Family Announcement  posted Sunday on his Facebook page. Bonner, whose career spanned 56 years, died just shy of his 70th birthday, according to the post. “While his family, friends, colleagues, and fans mourn his passing they celebrate fondly his memory, music and legacy,” the posting stated.

The Ohio Players helped build the funk!

The Hamilton native was the lead singer and guitarist of the Ohio Players since he joined the band in 1971.

Harrison said he received word of Bonner’s passing from Marshall “Rock” Jones and another Ohio Players band member.

“He was an extraordinary person,” Harrison said of Bonner.

Dayton musician Ronald Frost, a friend of Bonner’s, said that Bonner will be remembered for his kindness and heart.

“He was one of the nicest people I have ever met,” Frost said.

Frost’s father, keyboardist Ronald Nooks , is also a member of the Ohio Players.

“He was a good friend of my dad’s,” Frost said.

Based in Dayton, the Ohio Players rocketed onto the international stage in the 1970s with string of funk hits, including “Fire,” “Skin Tight” and “Love Rollercoaster.”

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.