Ronald LaPread, a co-founder and former bassist of the funk and soul group the Commodores, has died. He was 75.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I must announce that my father Ronald LaPread has passed,” LaPread’s daughter Soraya LaPread shared on her Instagram story. “If you know me you know my dad. I am devastated. A piece of me is gone from this world.”
Soraya did not share details about her father’s death, but the New Zealand Herald reported that the longtime resident died of a “sudden medical event.” The Commodores took to Instagram to share their condolences, writing that LaPread “will always be a Commodore.”
“Ronald was a phenomenal musician, an accomplished songwriter and a vital part of the Commodores’ sound and success. His contributions to our music and his friendship enriched our lives beyond measure. We were grateful to perform with him again last fall in New Zealand,” the Commodores shared on Instagram. “His legacy lives on through the music he helped create and the countless people he inspired.”
LaPread began playing with the Commodores in 1970 alongside Lionel Richie, William “WAK” King, Milan Williams and Thomas McClary while they were students at Tuskegee Institute. The band initially played shows around campus, performing covers and a handful of original songs.
Their manager Benny Ashburn spent his summer organizing shows for the Commodores on Martha’s Vineyard to test-market the band. In 1971, the group opened for the Jackson 5, helping them gain national exposure and leading them to sign with Motown Records in 1972.
The band released their debut album, “Machine Gun,” in 1974 and reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. They released a quick succession of albums — “Caught in the Act,” “Movin’ On” and “Hot on the Tracks” — catapulting the band to mainstream success. LaPread played bass on the band’s most memorable songs, including “Easy,” “Three Times a Lady” and “Brick House,” the latter a song that LaPread insisted they put on the album.
“They say, ‘Oh man, it’s too Black.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute. I tell you what, I will give this song to the group. Just put it on the album.’ They say, ‘Okay,’ and they put ‘Brick House’ on the tape recorder,” LaPread explained in a video recently shared on his personal Instagram. “They went crazy. When you hear a hit song, it sends goosebumps all over your body. Before anything happens, you feel it, and that’s the history.”
After working on 11 albums with the band, LaPread left the Commodores in 1986 and moved to New Zealand. During his time with the Commodores, the group earned nine Grammy nominations and won an award for their song “Nightshift.”
LaPread joined the Commodores onstage last October during a tour stop in Auckland, New Zealand. On Instagram, the band called performing with LaPread the “highlight” of their shows in Australia and New Zealand.
In addition to his daughter, LaPread is survived by his wife, Farideh; and children Mark and Ronald Jr.
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