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Michael Sumler, formerly the longtime hypeman for the legendary band Kool & The Gang has died in a car accident. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, the 71-year-old was killed in a crash in Georgia's Cobb County.
Sumler was reportedly driving when his car collided with another vehicle just before midnight Saturday, on Veterans Memorial Highway near Buckner Road. He died at the scene.
Known as “Chicago Mike,” Sumler joined Kool & the Gang in 1985. Initially, he worked behind the scenes as a stylist for the group and a choreographer; he eventually became Kool & the Gang’s hypeman, warming up crowds at shows. He also contributed backing vocals.
“He always wanted to see other people succeed in the business that he’d been around most of all of his life,” Adrian Meeks of Song Source Music Group told Fox 5. “He was the bridge, you know, for inspiring artists and songwriters and producers and musicians to the legends.”
Kool & the Gang was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024, and they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015. The legendary act’s music has been sampled extensively by such artists as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (“Summertime”), Lil Kim (“Not Tonight: Ladies Night Remix”), Ma$e (“Feel So Good”) and many more.
The band has released 23 studio albums and scored genre-crossing hits like “Hollywood Swingin,’” “Celebration” and “Ladies Night.” Founding member Robert "Kool" Bell continues to lead an incarnation of the band, performing and touring with a shifting lineup of musicians.
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