Musician-Songwriter James 'Mtume' Forman Has Passed Away

Mtume R.I.P.

JAMES “MTUME” FORMAN, known for the 1983 song, “Juicy Fruit,” passed away YESTERDAY (1/9) at the age of 76. He had just celebrated his birthday on JANUARY 3rd. No cause of death has been given.

He also co-wrote ROBERTA FLACK and DONNY HATHAWAY’s “The Closer I Get to You,” and collaborated with REGGIE LUCAS for STEPHANIE MILLS’s GRAMMY award winning “Never Knew Love Like This."  MTUME also produced MARY J. BLIGE‘s 1997 “Share My World” album, K-CI & JO-JO’s “Love Always,” and R. KELLY’s “Freak Tonight.” In 1994 NOTORIOUS B.I.G. sampled "Juicy Fruit" for his first single "Juicy."

MTUME's versatility kept him busy in Alternative Jazz, R&B, Hip Hop, and film scoring. During the 70s, he toured with MILES DAVIS, FREDDY HUBBARD, and MCCOY TYNER. He formed his self-titled R&B-Jazz group MTUME in 1972.

In the mid-80s, he co-hosted Urban WRKS (KISS 98.7 FM)/NEW YORK's SUNDAY MORNING Public Affairs show OPEN LINE. The show later moved over to R&B WBLS/NEW YORK, and he would frequently guest host.

GRAY COMMUNICATIONS Pres./Consultant TONY GRAY told ALL ACCESS, "I had the pleasure of being PD of WRKS at that time. Aside from being a great musician and recording artist, MTUME was also a superb broadcaster. The man was a legend."

« see more Net News