Legendary Drummer James Gadson Passes Away

0:00It's April 3rd. Welcome in. This is Music News Today, where the industry meets AI. James Gatson, the legendary drummer who laid down grooves for countless funk, soul, and disco classics, has passed away at 86 years old. His wife Barbara confirmed the news, saying he recently had surgery after health struggles, including a nasty fall that hurt his back. He's shaped 1970's soul music with killer beats on Bill Withers tracks, like Lean On Me and used me back in 1972. You hear him on the Jackson 5's Dancing Machine in 1974. Diana Ross's love hangover in 1976, Thelma Houston's. Don't leave me this way, and Marvin Gaye's I want you that same year. He even toured with Gaye. Born June 17th, 1939, in Kansas City, Missouri, Gatson first blew up drumming for Charles Wright in the Watts 103rd, Street Rhythm Band. He powered their iconic Express yourself in 1970, and kept working steady through the decades. Later, he backed Giants like the Temptations, Leonard Cohen, Gladys Knight, BBB, King,

1:06Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Barbara Streisand, Bobby Womack, Beck, DeAngelo, Justin Timberlake, and Harry Styles. Fellow drummers paid deep respects, Questlove called him the King of Danceable Breakbeats, and Ray Parker Jr. noted they jammed together over 50. Gatson's pocket defined heirs of music, and those rhythms still pulsed through tracks we spent today, keeping his fire alive.