Frankie Beverly, founder of the legendary funk and soul band Maze who dropped a plethora of gold albums during the Seventies and Eighties and notched a generational hit with 1981’s “Before I Let Go,” has died. He was 77.
Beverly — born Howard Stanley Beverly — died Monday, Sept. 10, according to a statement shared by the musician’s family. No cause of death was given.
“He lived his life with pure soul as one would say, and for us, no one did it better,” the family continued. “He lived for his music, family and friends. Love one another as he would want that for us all.”
The Beverly family also said, “During this time, as we are navigating feelings of sorrow, reflection, and remembrance we kindly ask for privacy and understanding, allowing us the space to grieve in our own way. This period is one of healing, and your respect for our need for solitude is appreciated as we honor the memory of our beloved Howard Stanley Beverly known to the world as Frankie Beverly.”
Beverly was renowned for his singular baritone, as melodious and sweet as it was dexterous and thrilling. He was born in Philadelphia and began his music career there with the band Raw Soul, but found greater success after moving out to San Francisco. There, Marvin Gaye took an interest, bringing Raw Soul on the road and encouraging them to change their name, too.
Between 1977 and 1993, Beverly and Maze enjoyed a wildly successful run, during which they dropped eight studio albums and two live records. Eight of those 10 projects earned gold certification, and two — 1985’s Can’t Stop the Love and 1989’s Silky Soul — topped the Billboard R&B Albums chart. Those two records featured the group’s two Number One songs on the R&B Singles Chart, too, “Back in Stride” and “Can’t Get Over You.”
Like many other Black funk and soul luminaries of this era — Teddy Pendergrass and the Gap Band among them — Maze’s success never blossomed into a mainstream crossover moment. Their singles occasionally dented the upper echelons of the Hot 100 — they got as high as Number 25 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. They were never nominated for a Grammy.
However, Beverly and the band left an indelible mark on Black music and culture, no more so than with “Before I Let Go.” As the title suggests, Beverly wrote the song about struggling to let go of feelings for a woman he wanted to be with, even though he knew the relationship wasn’t working out. The original version, he told Essence in 2020, wasn’t exactly a ballad, but it wasn’t a “groove song,” either: “When the band got a hold of it, we started rehearsing it, and that’s when it got the sound that you guys hear now.”
Over the four decades since its release, “Before I Let Go” has become a celebratory staple. Perhaps in a nod to the track’s origins as a studio cut on a live album, Beyoncé famously recorded a cover of “Before I Let Go” for her 2019 live album, Homecoming. Beverly, in an interview with Billboard, called the cover “a blessing,” adding, “She’s done so much, this is one of the high points of my life.”
Of the song’s longevity, Beverly said, “Not too many [artists] get something that takes on like that. When I wrote the song, it was not in my mind to make it a hit. I was just trying to do a good record and for it to turn out the way it is. I think by the time we went in to record it, I think it had a good chance to make some noise but I had no idea that it was gonna be what it turned out to be. I mean it just shocked me. I mean to even hear you say it’s like the Black folks national anthem, that’s even more than I can wrap my head around. It’s too impressive.”
While Maze released their last album, Back to Basics, in 1993, the group remained active as a touring band over the years. Earlier this year, Beverly announced a farewell tour that found him playing a handful of final shows during the spring and summer (Maze will continue with new vocalist Tony Lindsay.)
“It’s been a great ride through the decades,” Beverly said at the time. “Let the music of my legacy continue.”
