The drums start rolling. The rhythm begins. Frankie Beverly’s voice screams a well-known, elongated “whoa.” Then, for a split second, all the pieces falls silent until an electrical guitar begins playing over the speakers. In the right crowd, those first few seconds of “Before I Let Go” create a proverbial tsunami, with waves of friends, family, and even strangers vibrating together. Like lots of Beverly’s works with Maze, the song has turn out to be the soundtrack to family celebrations for generations.

On Tuesday, the man behind those sounds died at age 77. Beverly’s profession spanned a long time as he built a brand in R&B and funk that was unique to him and his band. It all revolved around a private connection to the black community. Beverly and Maze have toured relentlessly since their early days, first opening for Marvin Gaye in 1971.

Beverly, whose full name is Howard Stanley Beverly, loved touring a lot that he didn’t retire from performing until this yr. The band released its last studio album in 1993. How many musicians can hit the road and play to sold-out audiences 30 years after their last album? As the drummer of the cover band Maze once said, “Maze is like the urban Grateful Dead.” Like the late Jerry Garcia’s band, Maze’s music represented a life-style. Their melodies and the man behind them became greater than just music.

Beverly never really broke through to mainstream white listeners. Despite the undeniable fact that they played his shows, hearing “Happy Feelin’s” or “Joy and Pain” on a white radio station was just as rare. Former Capitol Records vice chairman Larkin Arnold attributes this to racism. “I had a lot of arguments with my pop promotion department because they would never put that album on white FM stations,” Arnold said. “When I first saw Maze, the audience was all white. I know if white people were exposed to Maze, they would have liked it, but at the time, the idea was, ‘Well, white people really don’t want to hear black music.’” Arnold tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade his colleagues that Beverly’s band was greater than just “black” music.

Nine gold albums is nothing to sneeze at, nevertheless it’s nowhere near the level Beverly deserves. Or, perhaps more importantly, what you may consider to have achieved, given the universality of his music. Perhaps the music never gained mainstream attention because the band’s record labels, Capitol Records and Warner Bros., didn’t market it properly. Or perhaps it was because Beverly stuck to his vision and made his music without compromising on radio play or awards. “I just refuse to compromise on the music, and therefore I’m going to have a problem with radio.” – Beverly he said in 1985. “You start changing your music and it will end up hurting you.”

Like the Grateful Dead, the Philadelphia artist stuck to what worked for the individuals who paid to see him and his band perform. Even as the genre gave technique to Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, and later Jodeci and Mary J. Blige, Beverly stuck to his principles. In an ever-changing world, his music remained constant.

“The love that people give us is amazing” Beverly he saiddescribing his group’s continued success. “I don’t care about the Grammys. It’s about the award, not the accolade.” While some fans gasp when their favorite artists don’t get the props they feel they deserve from awards shows or the industry, the lack of trophies on his mantel never bothered Beverly. He made music to unite people and encourage them with love, kindness and joy. “I look out at the audience and see so many generations coming together, and that excites me.” Beverly he said. He reveled in performing in front of an audience, irrespective of how many individuals showed up. His dedication to pure performance began at the age of 16. Beverly held on to that core belief throughout his profession. “It’s just something special. It’s probably the most powerful art form, music, and it’s all live.” – Beverly he told NPR in 2005. “You know, you say, ‘Hey,’ they say, ‘Hey.’ You say, ‘Ho,’ and it just comes back to you. It’s — it’s just nothing like that, man.”

For Beverly, the guy Gaye discovered who grew up fearing Sam Cooke, his music has at all times been about people. When the podcast host Questlove from The Roots I interviewed him In February, Beverly paid tribute to the fans who gave his soul songs a deeper meaning. He dismissed the praise from Questlove and his co-hosts. He at all times thought of how the music affected the fans, not what the fans could do for him. That’s how “Before I Let Go,” a song released in 1981 about heartbreak, was transformed right into a fast-paced anthem that is still played at barbecues, street parties, weddings and anywhere black people gather to have a good time.

When Beyoncé covered “Before I Let Go” on her live album in 2019, Beverly said how excited he was that somebody of her caliber had done a version of her. “She’s done so much. It’s one of the highlights of my life.”

It’s typical of a person who at all times had us in mind with every lyric he wrote and each move he made on stage. Throughout his 60-year profession, he put his music and his fans first. That’s why Frankie Beverly and Maze have lasted six a long time and can last for an additional six.

We won’t ever leave you.