Leonard “Hub” Hubbard.Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty
Leonard Hubbard, known lovingly as “Hub,” died at 62 on Thursday.
The news of the former longtime bassist for The Roots' death was shared on the band’s Twitter account as the group paid tribute to Hubbard.
It continued, “Rest in Melody Hub.”
Stephanie Hubbard, his wife, toldABC 6on Thursday that his death was related to the form of blood cancer he was diagnosed with in 2007. She also toldThe Philadelphia Inquirerthat he was in remission until last month, and on Wednesday night, the musician was suddenly immobile, despite feeling energetic days before.
When she took him to the hospital, she was unable to stay with him due to COVID restrictions — and received the news of his passing the following day.
“I was called to the hospital. They told me what had happened that he had passed. I went to the hospital and was able to sit with him,” Stephanie told ABC6.
Leonard was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2007 and shortly after stopped touring with the band. He underwent two rounds of chemo.
The Roots.Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty
Stephanie also said toThe Philadelphia Inquirerthat Leonard wanted to focus on his work as a composer following his diagnosis. He eventually put together an album of recordings of songs he wrote music for, for musicians including Ben Harper, Jill Scott and Jeff “Tain” Watts, which he completed just last week.
“He wanted to be known for the type of music he was composing,” she said. “And before he died, he was sitting there at night listening to the music, and he was so happy with it.”
The project is titledThe Awakening, Stephanie said.
“When you hear his project, you’ll see he was so much more than what people know,” she told ABC6.
Leonard was a founding member of The Roots alongside Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. He recorded seven albums with the band, originally called the Square Roots. Their debut album, Organix, was released in 1993.
Despite his exit from the band in 2007, he reunited with The Roots in 2008 at the Roots Picnic for a performance of “Mellow My Man,” and again in 2010 when the bandjoined John Legend onstage.
In 2016, however, hefiled a lawsuitagainst some of The Roots' members alleging he was owed money as a founding shareholder of the band. The lawsuit is ongoing.
“Every Saturday, people would be outside with the congas and the drums on the front stoops,” hesaid at the time.
He then went on to study classical upright bass at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg.
His death follows afterMalik Abdul Basit, a fellow founding member of the band, largely known as Malik B., who died in July 2020.
source: people.com
