Colonel Abrams Passed Away!

1980s R&B singer Colonel Abrams passed away.

When I tuned into SiriusXM's The Groove, one familiar voice was often a fixture on the 24/7 classic R&B and Funk station. It was Colonel Abrams. Tonight we learned that he passed away at the age of 67.

We'll do a Late Thread in honor of Colonel Abrams.

SoulTracks.com says that it was nearly a year ago that they reported that Abrams was suffering badly from diabetes and was financially strapped by the illness.

The Detroit-born, Manhattan raised singer began playing both piano and guitar while still quite young. By the mid 1970s he became part of the band Heavy Impact. But it was nearly a decade later that Abrams really made a name for himself with the big hit “Music Is the Answer.” It began a string of dance hits that capitalized on the electronic sounds that were popular in the mid 80s, and included “The Truth,” “Over and Over,” “I’m Not Gonna Let You,” and his biggest song, the dancelicious international hit, “Trapped.”

Soul Tracks Also writes that Abrams continued to chart on the Dance and R&B charts into the mid-90s, and performed around the world into the new century. He also formed his own Colonel Records and released music sporadically through the early part of this decade.

Unfortunately and tragically, by December of 2015, Abrams was quite ill and homeless, and his friends began a crowdfunding campaign to help him pay for his medical treatments.