Jersey City, NJ · funk · disco · soul

Kool & The Gang

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Six decades of funk and disco standards that everyone in the field knows whether they realise it or not — 'Celebration' is simply the closer.

Kool & The Gang formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 among school friends at Lincoln High School who first performed together as an instrumental jazz group called the Jazziacs. Founding members included brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, along with Dennis Thomas, Robert Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, Woodrow Sparrow and Ricky Westfield.

Robert Bell adopted the nickname "Kool" adapting to street life after the family moved from Youngstown, Ohio; his father and uncle were boxers who trained in New York, where the Bells lived in the same building as Thelonious Monk, who became Robert's godfather, and were visited by Miles Davis. The group signed to De-Lite Records, releasing their debut album, Kool and the Gang, in 1969.

The group began in jazz and instrumental funk, building a reputation on horn-driven grooves before moving toward vocal-led material in the late 1970s with the arrival of singer James "J.T." Taylor, aided by producer Eumir Deodato, bringing a run of pop and R&B hits. Their fourth album, Wild and Peaceful (1973), gave them their first mainstream success with the top-ten singles "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging."

Their catalogue spans funk, disco, jazz-funk and smooth soul, and includes songs long since passed into general circulation: "Ladies' Night," "Celebration," "Get Down On It," "Joanna," "Misled" and "Cherish." Emergency (1984) became their highest-selling album, selling two million copies in the US, while the band's total sales run past 70 million records worldwide.

The band still tours regularly, with the horn section and rhythm arrangements remaining central to the live show; it supported Van Halen in 2012 and marked a fiftieth-anniversary tour in 2014. They have won two Grammy Awards and seven American Music Awards, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.

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