Brothers Johnson's Louis Johnson has died
Louis Johnson, founding member of the jazz/funk band the Brothers Johnson and a very high in-demand bassist, died on Thursday, May 21st. He was 60 years old. His death was confirmed by his nephew Troy on Instagram but no official statement has been made by his estate.
With the Brothers Johnson, the bassist would top the Hot R&B Charts three times with 1976's "I'll Be Good to You", 1977's "Strawberry Letter 23" and 1980's "Stomp". The Brothers Johnson's 1980 album Light Up the Night, featuring "This Had to Be", co-written by Michael Jackson and featuring the 'King of Pop' on background vocals, ascended to the top of the R&B album charts.
In the early 80s the brothers parted to pursue solo careers; Louis became known for his bass-playing prowess, emerging as a prolific session musician. Johnson served as the primary bassist on Michael Jackson's Off the Wall and later lent his skills to Jackson's Thriller ("Billie Jean", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "P.Y.T."), Paul McCartney's Give My Regards to Broad Street soundtrack and the all-star "We Are the World" collaboration.
Johnson had shared a story during his work on "Billie Jean": "When I went to the session with 'Billie Jean', I took like 10 basses and I lined 'em up. I'd say, Michael, pick one. He'd pick one with the zebra wood on it. It had twelve different kinds of wood, different layers. It was dark brown and tan and light-colored, and it looked like a tiger or a zebra. Michael picked it because it sounded good. I hot-rodded it. I beefed it up and put extra magnets underneath the pickups. I did all the things I knew how to do to get the best sound. That's how come the bass sounded like that".
Johnson continued adding and saying that he was blessed:
"I had access to all musicians and artists, from Barbra Streisand to Paul McCartney to Michael Jackson. It was like an open door. The Lord blessed me with that - I prayed to God and my prayer he answered. He said, 'OK, you got the whole world now'. Every time I'd get in the car to go somewhere, I'd hear me playing the bass... I was all over the place. I released the funk on everybody."
With the announcement of Johnson's passing, fans and music artists rushed to the social media to express their condolences and love.