This reprinted from the article in Entertainment Weekly.
Michael Sumler, Kool & the Gang‘s resident hype man for more than three decades, died in a car crash in Mableton, Ga., on Sunday. He was 71.
The Cobb County Police Department confirmed Sumler’s death to Entertainment Weekly, indicating that he was involved in a head-on collision on Veterans Memorial Highway west of Buckner Road at approximately 11:35 p.m. The operator of the other vehicle walked away without injuries, but Sumler was pronounced dead by the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Mableton Mayor Michael Owens mourned Sumler in a Facebook post Wednesday, saying, “We are saddened by the death of musician Mike Sumler. ‘Chicago Mike’ contributed so much to the music and entertainment communities. His style and energy added flair and excitement to Kool & the Gang for decades.”
Sumler joined the genre-fusing R&B and funk group in 1985, two decades after it was founded by Robert “Kool” Bell, Ronald Bell, George “Funky” Brown, Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Claydes Charles Smith, Ricky Westfield, Robert “Spike” Mickens, and Woodrow “Woody” Sparrow.
Known as “Chicago Mike,” Sumler was initially brought on as Kool & the Gang’s stylist and choreographer but became beloved by fans for acting as the group’s hype man.
Prior to the crash, Sumler had performed at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre as part of “An Evening of Funk With Midnight Star, Con Funk Shun, and Rose Royce.” Con Funk Shun founder Mike Cooper mourned Sumler on social media Tuesday, writing that the band “sends our deepest condolences to the family of our friend ‘Chicago Mike’ from Kool & the Gang, stylist and dancer. Thank you Mike for always supporting Con Funk Shun. We had no idea that Sunday night’s Love’s Train would be your last ride. Rest in heavenly peace.”