Mike Sumler, hype man of the Grammy Award-winning group Kool & the Gang, has died. He was 71.
Sumler died in a car crash over Memorial Day weekend, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. The R&B group confirmed his death in a Wednesday post on X.
“We’re deeply saddened to hear about the passing of our longtime wardrobe valet, Mike Sumler,” Kool & the Gang wrote on X. “Mike worked alongside Kool & the Gang from 2000-2015, making sure the guys looked their best on stage every night. He also hyped the crowd with his energy and dance moves at the.”
Sumler first crossed paths with the legendary group in 1985 when he was performing with his own band, Power Pac. Sumler looked back on the experience of meeting Kool & the Gang in a 2018 interview with Kelly Talk Show where he said that “One of the Kool & the Gang security guys caught our act in the club in Chicago and we became friends.”
He continued to travel with the group as their stylist-choreographer, but “Once they saw that I could do some other things, they said we need to have you onstage.” That’s when Sumler was brought on-stage with the “Get Down on It” hitmakers as their hype man, and went on to provide background vocals for their music.
Across their tenure, Kool & the Gang has earned three Grammy nominations and one win in 1979 for album of the year for their work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
The group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015 and was later inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2024.