Where are they now: the kool and the gang bassist robert ‘kool’ bell

The band have won a host of accolades and awards during their almost 50-year career. Robert, 66, lives in New Jersey with his wife, Deborah Jones, and has two children and several

grandchildren.    “My older brother, Ronald, and I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and moved to Jersey City in 1960 when I was 10. There were no professional musicians in our family, but our

grandmother played the piano and our father, Bobby, had a love of music from travelling the world. He was a boxer, top five in the world, and met a lot of musicians in Havana, becoming

friends with people like Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. When I was born, Thelonious asked if he could be my godfather.   “When we moved to Jersey City and started high school, we met the

guys we formed our band with. I started off playing percussion, until one night, aged about 14, playing at the Cafe Wha? (in New York City), my brother asked me to play bass in Coming Home

Baby. I played on one string, and after that the brother of our trumpet player, Spike Mickens, taught me how to play it properly.  “Our first group was called the Jazziacs, then we called

ourselves the Soul Town Band. One night an MC in a club called us Kool and the Flames, because Kool was my nickname. But we were told that it was too similar to James Brown and the Famous

Flames, so we became Kool and the Gang. Next year marks the official 50 years of our band.  “I became the one out front, but we’ve always been partners, and the majority rules. We felt good

that our first album, Kool and the Gang in 1969, made it to the Top 40, and locally everyone knew who we were. But when we released Funky Stuff, Hollywood Swinging and Jungle Boogie in the

early 70s, it took us to a whole new level. Life changed, in that we did a lot of gigging around the world, especially playing for army bases, and we had more fans and more girls chasing us!

I was in my early twenties and it was like, ‘Wow, it’s happening!’ We met people like Stevie Wonder and worked with Larry Graham and Sly and The Family Stone, who inspired us. We tried to

stay out of trouble by focusing on what we were doing musically. I got married in 1971 and had two kids, so that helped. My wife kept me grounded.  “We still have four of the eight original

members we started out with – me, my brother, Dennis Thomas and George Brown. The other guys have passed away over the years but our mother always told us, ‘Make sure you stick together as a

band, because you’re family.’  “We’re working on a five-song EP before the year is out and we’re touring this summer and playing with The Jacksons at Blenheim Palace later this month. We’re

also working on a biography of our lives and a musical called It’s A Celebration, which we hope to get out next year.”  _KOOL & THE GANG ARE PERFORMING AT BLENHEIM PALACE ON JUNE 18.

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