Keith LeBlanc, Session Drummer For Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, NIN Died Aged 69

Keith LeBlanc, the multi-talented drummer/producer who helped shape the sound of early hip-hop by playing on albums by the Sugar Hill Gang and Grandmaster Flash, has died at age 69. LeBlanc's death was confirmed in a statement from his label, Sound On-Uas well as LeBlanc's wife, Fran LeBlanc, who said Variety that her husband died on April 4 of an unknown illness.

“All of us at On-U Sound are saddened to share the news that the great Keith LeBlanc has passed away,” read a statement from the company.

During a four-decade career that began with his gig working alongside bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist Skip “Little Axe” McDonald as part of the band for rap pioneers the Sugarhill Gang in the early 1980s, LeBlanc he played and played with him. records that covered electronica, rock and pop.

LeBlanc's work can be heard on such landmark Sugar Hill records as “Apache” and “8th Wonder,” as well as Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five's “It's Nasty” and the 1982 album The message. In a nod to his versatility, LeBlanc spent the 1980s and 1990s playing sessions with a wide variety of acts, from Ministry to REM, Seal and Annie Lennox, as well as adding his expertise in production and engineering on Nine Inc Nails' 1989 industrial rock landmark. classic debut, Pretty Hate Machine.

Born in Bristol, CT in 1954, LeBlanc also had a strong solo career, playing drums on tracks for English producer Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound productions. He scored an unexpected underground solo hit in 1983 with “No Sell Out,” which sampled the late Nation figurehead Malcolm X's voice over bouncy synths and drum machine beats and is considered one of the first commercially released songs to use samples.

He also played in the rotating lineup of Sherwood's industrial hip-hop group Tackhead in the late 1980s and early 1990s alongside Wimbish and McDonald after Sherwood was impressed with LeBlanc's musicianship, inviting the trio to join of in London for experimental sessions.

“Once in the studio, they continued their sample-based explorations, with the producer as a fourth member manning the mixing desk. This is something they would repeat in their live set-up, with Adrian dubbing and editing the musicians in real time as they performed on stage,” read On U's obituary. “Cutting records simultaneously as Fats Comet (for more dancefloor oriented material) and Tackhead (for their more aggressively political tracks), also became the second incarnation of The Maffia, Mark Stewart's uncompromising backing band. [the Pop Group]. The members additionally participated in solo projects, session assignments and appearances with other mysterious acts on the On-U roster, such as Barmy Army and Strange Parcels.

In a statement, Sherwood said: “Keith was a great, great talent.. an incredible drummer, producer and musician. Together with Doug, Skip and also the much missed Mark Stewart, we enjoyed some of the most creative moments together that shaped my musical life. Thanks Brother Keith..Love Forever. Heart and soul.”

LeBlanc also released six solo albums during that time, including the 1986 album Major malfunction, which was inspired by the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Throughout his musical adventures, LeBlanc did hip-hop, spoken word, film/TV samples, and a mix of live drums and programmed beats, releasing material through his Blanc Records label, which also offered fans low-priced compilations.sample packs” with beats and effects.

Among his other notable recordings are an appearance on “Little” Steven Van Zandt's 1985 all-star single “Sun City,” as well as collaborations with McDonald's band Little Ax and writing/producing for Living Color Peter Gabriel . and The Cure and drums on songs by James Brown, Rolling Stones, Stone Roses and Sinead O'Connor, among many others.

Check out some of LeBlanc's music below.