Brother Marquis Passed Away!

Brother Marquis passed away from unknown illness.

Luther Campbell, rapper and activist who goes by the name of Uncle Luke (formerly Luke Skyywalker Xxx) announced the passing of his former bandmate Brother Marquis of the 2 Live Crew.

My Condolence goes out to the Family of Brother Marquis and so many of his Fans from around the World after learning his passing. We took on so many fights for the culture made Great music together something I would never forget .We had recently got back together to take on…

— Luther Luke Campbell (@unclelukereal1) June 3, 2024

Born Mark D. Ross, he was born in Rochester, New York, in his teens, and with his mother, they moved to Los Angeles, California. By the early 1980s, Ross started to release music with his group The Cautious Crew, and shortly after he made an impression with DJ and producer David Hobbs (Mr. Mixx) due to his battle rap abilities. At the time, Hobbs was part of a group named 2 Live Crew, who had just created the Miami Bass blueprint, and were successful in Florida. Eventually a member of the group left, and Ross accepted an invitation to replace him. Due to his comedic sensibilities, Ross integrated easily into the direction the group was taking. Alongside Hobbs, Christopher Wong Won (Fresh Kid Ice), and Luther Campbell (Luke Skyywalker), they became the most well-known line up of the group. In 1986, they had a breakthrough with their Gold-certified debut album, The 2 Live Crew Is What We Are.

The group shared he "went to the upper room" in an Instagram post. A cause of death was not immediately clear.

Luke paid tribute to Brother Marquis on social media, writing on X, "My Condolence goes out to the Family of Brother Marquis and so many of his Fans from around the World after learning his passing.

"We took on so many fights for the culture (and) made Great music together something I would never forget. We had recently got back together to take on another fight to get back our catalog that was stolen from us. We will continue that fight in his name for his Family."

The group is currently in a legal battle with Lil Joe Records over ownership of their work.

He added, "The Brother Marquis that I know would want us to celebrate his life (and) that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. R.I.P My Brother."

Brother Marquis was one of 2 Live Crew's most notable members, alongside Uncle Luke, Fresh Kid Ice and Mr. Mixx. He joined In 2017, founding member Fresh Kid Ice (born Chris Wong Won) died at 53.

Ross was an avowed born again Christian, but also felt no moral restrictions when he performed sexually explicit lyrics in 2 Live Crew hits on tour or on recordings.