All articles tagged with #commodores
Ronald LaPread, founding bassist of the Commodores, died at 75 in Auckland after a sudden medical event, according to a post from his daughter. LaPread helped launch the Motown group and appeared on 11 albums, contributing to hits such as Brick House, Three Times a Lady, and Easy; he left the band in 1986 before relocating to New Zealand.
Ronald LaPread, a founding member and longtime bassist of the Commodores, died at 75, announced by his daughter on May 30. LaPread played with the group from 1970 to 1986 and helped anchor hits like Brick House and Three Times a Lady; after relocating to New Zealand, he spent about four decades there and died following a sudden medical event in Auckland. The Commodores recently pulled out of the Freedom 250 festival in Washington, D.C., though LaPread was not part of the current lineup.
Ronald LaPread, founding bassist and a key architect of The Commodores’ early funk-soul sound, has died at 75. Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, he helped the group rise from local gigs to Motown stardom with hits like Machine Gun, Brick House, and Zoom—the latter inspired by his wife Cathy’s death during surgery. After Nightshift and Lionel Richie’s departure, LaPread left the band and later moved to New Zealand, where he continued to perform for decades.
The Commodores pulled out of Washington, D.C.’s Freedom 250 concerts amid backlash over ties to a Trump‑founded organization, joining Morris Day and Young MC in exiting as questions linger about Milli Vanilli and C&C Music Factory amid the festival’s nonpartisan claims.