Michael Sumler obit

Michael Sumler Of Kool & The Gang Dead At 71

Chicago Mike was best known as the band's hype man. 

He was not on the list.

Michael “Chicago Mike” Sumler, longtime member of Kool & The Gang, died in a fatal car accident in Cobb County, Georgia over the weekend.

He was 71.

Fox5 Atlanta reported that Sumler was driving when his car “collided with another vehicle just before midnight Saturday on Veterans Memorial Highway near Buckner Road.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“It was a devastating blow,” Adrian Meeks of Song Source Music Group told the outlet. “It’s like, no, no, not Mike. He always wanted to see other people succeed in the business that he’d been around most of all of his life. He was the bridge, you know, for inspiring artists and songwriters and producers and musicians to the legends […] He’ll be dearly missed.”

Meeks also described Sumler as “always jovial, always just kind, always wanting to make sure everybody else around him was good.”

Greg Williams of Switch Entertainment added, “He was the hype guy out of the group, getting the audience going.”

Sumler was part of Kool & The Gang for over three decades, but his loved ones confirmed that his true impact went “far beyond the stage.” They shared how active he was in regard to mentoring the youth and helping rising acts maneuver the industry.

Williams considered Sumler to be “one of these people God put on a planet to teach people how to act because he was kind, he was thoughtful, he was intelligent, he was articulate and he was the life of the party.”

With many of Sumler’s family still in Chicago, his friends are waiting to speak with them before proceeding with memorial arrangements.

VIBE sends our deepest condolences to all those affected.

Various personalities within the music world have offered their sympathies for Sumler's family, commemorating the funk musician's achievements in the annals of R&B musical history.

Sumler's friend, Song Source Music Group's Adrian Meeks, offered his sentiments, telling Fox 5 Atlanta that Sumler was "always jovial, always just kind, always wanting to make sure everybody else around him was good."

Similarly, the '60s funk band Con Funk Shun wrote on X, "We had no idea that Sunday night's Love's Train would be your last," of Sumler's passing. "Rest in heavenly peace."

Originally formed in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964, Kool & the Gang has often described as one of the most revolutionary music groups within either the R&B, soul, funk or disco genres. Initially breaking through in the industry with hit singles like "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging," the band eventually rose to new heights with the release of their albums Ladies' Night in 1979 and Celebrate! and Emergency in the early 1980s.

In addition to winning two Grammy Awards throughout their tenure together, they've also earned a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024 and an honorary star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.