Chuck Brown, Go-Go Funk Music Legend, Dies at 75

Chuck Brown, who blended funk, soul, and Latin party elements to create a new style of music called “go-go,” died at the age of 75 on Wednesday, May 16 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

Brown, known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” died yesterday due to complications from sepsis. He had been hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Hospital since April 18 for pneumonia, according to a report from the Washington Post.

“I just want to tell all his fans, thank you, for lovin’ our dad,” Brown’s daughter, Cherita Whiting, said in a statement announcing Brown’s death. “He had the best fans in the world.”

Brown’s go-go style of music uniquely identified with Washington D.C., gaining him fame and respect in the area. Chuck’s pioneering of the Washington D.C. music scene gained him, and go-go music in general, national recognition with songs like Bustin’ Loose and Blow Your Whistle.

“It’s about love, the communication between performer and audience,” Brown once said of go-go music. “When you’re on stage, the people put that love to you and you give it back. There’s no other music like it.”

Even on into more recent years, Brown continued to play go-go at venues in Washington D.C. to a loyal fanbase between the ages of 18 and 60. Brown told the AP that he would happy to play go-go in the area for the rest of his life.

You can listen to Chuck Brown’s Bustin’ Loose below.