Ronald Nathan Bell (November 1, 1951 – September 9, 2020), also known as Khalis Bayyan, was an American composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, saxophonist and co-founding member of Kool & the Gang. The band recorded nine No. 1 R&B singles in the 1970s and 1980s, including its No. 1 pop single "Celebration". The group is honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bell was born in Youngstown, Ohio, to Aminah Bayyan (1932–2014) and Robert "Bobby" Bell (1929–1985). His father was a professional boxer and Golden Gloves amateur boxing winner. Training in Elwood, New York, he hung out with jazz players and became friends with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, who lived in the same apartment building as the elder Bell. Ronald Bell and his brother, Robert "Kool" Bell, were introduced to jazz at around five or six. The family moved to Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1960. In 1964, the brothers joined neighborhood friends Spike Mickens, Dennis Thomas, Ricky Westfield, George Brown, and Charles Smith to create a distinctive musical blend of jazz, soul, and funk. At first calling themselves "The Jazziacs", the band went through various name changes—the New Dimensions, the Soul Town Band, and Kool & the Flames—before settling on Kool & the Gang in 1968. Ronald Bell composed, arranged, produced and performed some of the most popular music in Kool and the Gang's body of work. He was a self-taught musician, and his distinctive sound is on the group's horn lines, bass, synthesizer and vocal...more
Movie | Kool & The Gang - Baloise Session 2017 | Self | 2018-07-27 |
Movie | Stars 80 - Triomphe | Self - Kool & the Gang | 2017-12-02 |
Movie | Stars 80, la suite | Self - Kool & the Gang | 2017-12-06 |
Movie | Kool and the Gang: Live 40th Anniversary Greatest Hits | Self | 2009-03-30 |
Movie | Kool And The Gang - Gold - The Videos | Self | 2007-06-18 |
Movie | Kool & the gang Live in Denver | Self | 2005-01-01 |
Movie | Kool & The Gang - 40th Anniversary Concert | Self | 2005-11-15 |
Movie | Kool & the Gang: Live from House of Blues | Self | 2001-09-10 |
Movie | The Best of MusikLaden: Kool & the Gang | Self | 1999-01-01 |
Movie | Kool & the Gang-decade singles collection | Self | 1987-01-01 |
Series | Le monde est à vous | Self - Kool & the Gang | 1987-09-13 |
Series | Sacrée soirée | Self - Kool & the Gang | 1987-09-02 |
Series | Champs-Elysées | Self - Kool & the Gang | 1982-01-16 |
Movie | Dossier AST-555 | 1960-11-25 |