Kool & the Gang's Michael Sumler dies in car crash at 71
Michael Sumler, a member of the iconic R&B band Kool & the Gang, tragically died at the age of 71 in a car accident.
The Grammy-winning band confirmed the news of Sumler's death on Thursday.
'We're deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our longtime wardrobe valet, Mike Sumler,' the band told The Post in a statement. 'Mike worked alongside Kool & the Gang from 2004-2015, making sure the guys looked their best on stage every night.'
4 Michael Sumler, a member of the iconic R&B band Kool & the Gang, tragically died at the age of 71 in a car accident.
FOX 5
After starting out as a stylist for the band, Sumler soon became involved in providing background vocals and joining the group onstage.
'He also hyped the crowd with his energy and dance moves at the top of the show. Most recently, Mike helped Kool with LeKool champagne events,' they went on.
'Everyone here at Kool & the Gang has fond memories of Mike and will miss him. May he rest in peace.'
Sumler, who was lovingly nicknamed 'Chicago Mike,' died in a car crash in Cobb County, Ga., over Memorial Day Weekend. The 33-year-old driver of the other vehicle was not injured.
Sumlar died on the scene after the vehicle he was driving had colluded with another car on May 25, Fox 5 Atlanta reports.
4 The Grammy-winning band confirmed news of Sumler's death, revealing that he had worked with them from 2000 to 2015..
Getty Images
Following his death, Mableton mayor Michael Owens paid a heartfelt tribute.
'This Memorial Day weekend the world lost a music legend,' he said in a statement. 'Michael Sumler, known as 'Chicago Mike' of Kool and the Gang died in a crash Sunday night on Veterans Memorial Highway near Buckner Road. He was 71.'
'The City of Mableton, City Council and I join his friends, family and fans in mourning his loss,' Owens added.
Sumler joined the band after an introduction from a member of the group's security team.
4 Some of the band's biggest hits to date include 'Get Down on It,' 'Jungle Boogie,' 'Funky Stuff,' 'Ladies' Night' and 'Celebration.'
Getty Images
'I had a local band out of Chicago called Power Pac,' Sumler told the Kelly Talk Show in 2018. 'One of the Kool and the Gang security guys caught our act in the club in Chicago and we became friends, and he decided… he said, 'Hey, you'd like to meet my group?' And I said 'Sure.''
After starting out as a stylist-choreographer for the group, his future in the band seemed bright.
'Once they saw that I could do some other things, they said we need to have you onstage,' he said.
Sumler began his role in the band with the opening dance number and soon transitioned into providing background vocals.
'So I started off doing moves on the stage, and so that was the opening for the band. And then they said, 'Well we need you a little more,'' he said. 'So I started coming on doing background singing and just working the whole show… just creating even more moves for the band.'
Some of the band's biggest hits to date include 'Get Down on It,' 'Jungle Boogie,' 'Funky Stuff,' 'Ladies' Night' and 'Celebration.'
4 During its glittering career, the band won two Grammy Awards and 7 American Music Awards.
United Archives via Getty Images
In 2015, the band was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nine years later, they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Additionally, they won two Grammys and seven American Music Awards.
Robert 'Kool' Bell remains the only surviving member of the band.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
‘Spider-Man' and ‘One Life to Live' star Jack Betts dead at 96
Jack Betts has passed away at 96 years old. The actor starred on the soap opera 'One Life to Live' from 1979 to 1985, appearing in 20 episodes as Llanview Hospital's Dr. Ivan Kipling. Betts' nephew, Dean Sullivan, told The Hollywood Reporter that the star died in his sleep at his house in Los Osos, California, on Thursday. 7 Jack Betts at The Cocktail Hour play opening, LA, California, April 19, 1990. MediaPunch via Getty Images 7 Doris Roberts and Jack Betts arrive at the party celebrating the 200th Episode of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' on October 14, 2004 at Spago in Beverly Hills, California. Getty Images Betts lived with 'Everybody Loves Raymond' actress Doris Roberts before her death at age 90 in 2016. The two would attend events together over the years and Roberts even directed a play written by Betts, about a soap opera, titled 'Screen Test: Take One.' The close pals first met in 1954 at The Actors Studio in New York City in 1954. Decades later, in 1988, Betts accepted Roberts' offer to move from the Big Apple into the downstairs apartment at her Hollywood Hills home. 7 Actor Jack Betts. Columbia Pictures 'We were best friends to the very end, we had wonderful times together,' he gushed following her death. Betts was also known for starring as Henry Balkan – the Oscorp board chair who fired Norman Osborn (Willem Defoe) – in Sam Raimi's 2002 'Spider-Man.' Norman then became the villainous Green Goblin and vaporized Henry and the board. While on 'The Dev Show' in 2020, Betts spoke about filming the Oscorp boardroom shot and how he asked Raimi, 65, if he could add some of his own spin onto the scene. 7 Jack Betts is seen on May 6, 2016. GC Images 'I really looked [Defoe] right in the eye, and I had kind of a smile in my eye — you know, like, 'You're fired, you motherf–ker,'' the actor explained. 'After, I finished it, [Raimi] said, 'That's it. Terrific. Print that one.'' 'My point being is that I wanted to add something just a little different to it instead of doing it the same way over and over and over and over. [Raimi] he was willing to do that. He really was. Wonderful man to work with.' The Hollywood vet was raised in Jersey City, New Jersey, before moving to Miami with his family at age 10. The actor received his degree in theater from the University of Miami, and shortly after graduation, relocated to New York to begin acting. 7 Jose Ferrer, Jack Betts in 'Another World.' Courtesy Everett Collection Betts landed his first role as a supporting actor in the 1953 Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Richard III.' For two seasons, from 1960 to 1962, Betts played detective Chris Devlin in the CBS mystery series 'Checkmate' opposite Anthony George, Sebastian Cabot and Doug McClure. The show, created by Eric Ambler, followed private detectives solving cases in San Francisco with the help of a British criminologist. Betts appeared four times on CBS' Perry Mason from 1961-66 before he met Giraldi about starring in Sugar Colt. He told the director that he could ride a horse and had just won a shooting contest — of course, he had never been on a horse or handled a gun — but he spent the next three weeks learning those skills at John Wayne's ranch before reporting for duty at Cinecittà in Rome. Shortly after, he entered the soap opera world, landing a role on 'General Hospital' from 1963 to 1965. 7 Jack Betts, Barbara Lord, Peter Falk in 'The Bloody Brood.' Courtesy Everett Collection From there, Betts made his mark on the franchises, and along with 'One Life to Live,' he had parts on 'The Edge of Night,' 'The Doctors,' 'Another World,' 'All My Children,' 'Search for Tomorrow,' 'Guiding Light,' 'Loving,' 'The Young and the Restless,' and 'Generations.' Some of Betts most memorable television roles included 'Seinfeld,' 'Frasier,' 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' 'Monk,' and 'Friends.' His last credited series was on the Freeform drama 'Good Trouble' in 2019. 7 Barbara Bain, Jack Betts in 'Silver Skies.' Courtesy Everett Collection When Betts stepped onto the spaghetti Western scene in 1966 as the title character Hunt Powers in Franco Giraldi's 'Sugar Colt,' he was able to turn that film into 15 others until 1973. But Betts didn't get the same credit as a certain fellow western star did. 'In the hotel next to mine was Clint Eastwood,' he recounted in a 2021 interview. 'He'd go up to his mountain and do his Western and I'd go up to my mountain and do my Western. But while his films had distribution all over the world, my films were distributed [everywhere] except Canada and America.' Betts is survived by his sister, Joan – who is set to turn 100 this year – nephew Dean, and nieces, Lynee and Gail.
Buzz Feed
6 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Bad Bunny Says It Is Silly To Complain About His Job
It's fair to say that Bad Bunny is one of the hardest-working music artists in the game right now. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio went from the barrio to the Billboard charts, becoming one of the first Latin artists to sell out stadiums around the world, even breaking the record for most tickets ever sold in Spain (he's set to perform 12 shows there on his upcoming tour). In a June 18 interview with Variety, the Puerto Rican superstar spoke to his work ethic as a music artist and celebrity. When his comments went viral, the fans were eating it up just as much as his boricua beats. In the interview, discussing his upcoming residency and tour surrounding his sixth studio album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Benito got real about what's expected of him as he embarks on one of the biggest tours of his career. "At times, I do think, cabrón, what I'm signing up for is a lot," he said. For context, Benito is set to perform a 30-night residency at the Colseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, not too far from where he grew up from July 11 to Sept. 14, and then he's going on a 56-date world stadium tour from November 2025 to July 2026. Basically, he's booked and busy. "But the way I see it, I'm not a doctor; I'm not a teacher; I'm not someone who has to wake up every morning at 5 a.m. to lay down concrete on a busy road to survive," Benito continued. "My job is to fucking sing, and even though it comes with its own set of sacrifices, it feels silly to complain about it." When Benito's comments on the pressure of fame started to make their rounds on the internet, like in this Reddit thread, a lot of people had something to say about it, many praising the three-time Grammy winner for his honesty. Here are some of my favorite comments. "He's a man who got famous as an adult and has managed to become the hometown hero of Puerto Rico, which he obviously put in the work to deserve. It's not necessarily easy to handle, but you can compare that to what a lot of women and people who start as child stars go through. Good for him that he feels this way about it, but I'm not shocked that it's not a common perspective. If he can avoid the toxicity of overwhelming greed and not chase being a billionaire or whatever, he might actually stay happy," a Reddit user shared. Another Reddit user said, "Finally someone with some common sense. I'm so tired of celebs complaining how hard their job is, having never worked a real job in their lives. Like, sure, the pressure must be a lot and paparazzi and public scrutiny, but that's nothing compared to some annoying boomer manager breathing down your neck 24/7 or a customer having a screaming meltdown over a difference of 28 cents or cleaning up vomit, etc." "I appreciate the humility but the more artists downplay the work they put in the more the public does as well. EVERY job has pros and cons so please remember that. He is lucky to have the job he has but it's not like many of them don't work hard for it. 💙" X user wrote. This Reddit user wrote, "He has the right attitude and a healthy perspective." "Good way of putting it, everything is relative and even with fame and money and privilege you can still stress and be sad and be overwhelmed at times, but still understand and be grateful for what you have," another X user wrote. "I truly wish more celebrities and influencers had enough self-awareness to realize that publicly whining about their privileged lives doesn't hit the way they think it does," another Reddit user added. Finally, this Reddit user said, "It doesn't even sound like he's saying that as a performer you can't have bad days or struggle in/with your career, it more so sounds like he simply thinks it's in poor taste to publicly lament about how hard you have it since it's a highly privileged profession." What do you think about Bad Bunny's take on the pressures of being a famous singer? Let's talk about it in the comments.
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Jennifer Aniston reveals the one thing that is still on her career ‘bucket list'
Rumor has it… Jennifer Aniston wants to head to the Big Apple. The actress, 56, revealed her next career goal, after being a Hollywood staple since rising to fame for playing Rachel Green on the sitcom 'Friends' from 1994 to 2004. 'I definitely want to do a Broadway play,' Aniston told People in an interview published Saturday. Advertisement 6 Jennifer Aniston speaks onstage during the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Getty Images 'That's on my bucket list,' the 'Murder Mystery' star added, 'but it's finding the time and finding the right piece, the right material.' Despite all of the factors that have to come together for Aniston to get to the Great White Way, she does see herself landing on the stage one day. Advertisement As she put it, 'I absolutely have to do a play on Broadway.' Aniston is no stranger to Hollywood and all of its facets, as both her parents, mom Nancy Dow and dad John Aniston, were actors. The 'Just Go with it' alum went to LaGuardia High School, also known as the 'Fame' school, in New York City, and acted in various Off-Broadway productions. 6 Jennifer Aniston in 'Horrible Bosses.' LM/ Advertisement Her first movie came in the form of the 1993 horror/comedy 'Leprechaun.' One year later, Aniston landed 'Friends' alongside Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer. Looking back at all of the parts she played over the decades, the 'Cake' actress knows which one she would love to bring back for round three. 6 Jennifer Aniston in 'Friends.' NBCUniversal via Getty Images Advertisement 'Oh my God, this literally came up the other day: 'Horrible Bosses,'' she told the outlet. The 2011 comedy starred three friends, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day, who plot to murder their awful bosses. 'Horrible Bosses 2' came out in 2014. 'Jason Bateman and I were talking about that, and Charlie Day has been talking about it a lot too,' Aniston added. 'So that's something that we think would be super fun.' 'The characters are hilarious, and we need comedy. I personally think comedy is a necessity,' she gushed. 'That's one that we would have a really fun time, I think, going back to, seeing where those crazy cats are today.' 6 Jennifer Aniston and Selena Gomez. jenniferaniston/Instagram Another leading man Aniston would love to get on-screen with is Pedro Pascal. In March, a source told People the two went out for 'a business dinner to get to know each other better.' 'Jen likes [Pedro's] energy and would love to work with him,' the insider added. Advertisement These days, Aniston is starring in the hit Apple TV+ series 'The Morning Show,' with Season 4 debuting on Sept. 17. The drama follows the challenges working in morning television brings. Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup and Jon Hamm star opposite Aniston. 6 'Friends' stars Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, and Matt LeBlanc. Instagram 6 Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston. Instagram Advertisement As for what fans can expect, the Emmy winner told People in January, 'Oh my gosh, it was hard. It was so hard.' Aniston went on, 'But it's a great season. It's jam-packed, that's for sure.'
