Mexico City.- Soul and R&B icon Frankie Beverly has died at the age of 77, his family announced in a statement.
“This is a healing period, and your respect for our need for solitude is appreciated as we honor the memory of our beloved Howard Stanley Beverly known to the world as Frankie Beverly,” they wrote.
The cause of death is still unknown. “He lived his life with a pure soul, as one would say, and for us no one did it better. He lived for his music, family and friends,” they added.
Born in December 1946 in Philadelphia, Frankie Beverly became an iconic figure in soul and funk, fronting the influential band Maze, formed in 1970.
Among the band’s biggest hits is the song “Before I Let Go,” which Beverly described as one of the most important of her career. “I just thought it was a cool song, but I never thought it would be this big,” she said in an interview with Billboard in 2019. Other hits by the band include classics such as “Joy and Pain,” “We Are One,” “Can’t Get Over You” and “Golden Time of Day.” After more than 50 years on stage, he retired in July with a concert in his hometown, Philadelphia, where he was given a loving farewell by his fans. “Love one another as he would want that for all of us,” the statement concluded. Frankie Beverly’s impact in Philadelphia was such that in May of this year the 6000 block of Norwood Street, where he grew up, was renamed Frankie Beverly Way, a tribute to his legacy and contributions to music, according to the New York Post.
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