Maze founder, ‘Before I Let Go’ singer Frankie Beverly dies

R&B singer Frankie Beverly has died at the age of 77.

The Maze founder’s family announced his Sept. 10 death but didn’t say how he died or where it happened.

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Beverly, whose real name was Howard Stanley Beverly, was born in Philadelphia in 1946 and grew up there singing gospel. He founded his first band — the Blenders — while he was in high school, The Philadelphia Tribune reported.

He adopted the name Frankie when he was about 12 years old after hearing “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” performed by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Washington Post reported.

He then founded the group the Butlers in 1963 which moved from the East Coast to the California Bay area in 1971, changing the name to Raw Soul. The band changed its name once again at the urging of Marvin Gaye, calling itself Maze.

People magazine said Maze released its first album “Maze featuring Frankie Beverly” in 1977. It was the group’s first Gold-certified full-length album. In all the band earned nine gold albums.

“Can’t Stop the Love,” released in 1985 and “Silky Soul,” released in 1989, both hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Maze’s biggest hit was “Before I Let Go” from “Live from New Orleans,” released in 1981. It became the go-to song for weddings and other gatherings in the Black community, People said.

“There isn’t a cookout, not a wedding or a family reunion in Black America where you won’t hear” the song, Essence magazine wrote in 2017.

“It was about a relationship I was in. It was just up and down, and by the end of it I wrote a song because I was feeling I needed to get out of it,” Beverly told Billboard 2019. “I was so into the girl, but it just wasn’t working out. I was thinking, ‘What am I gonna do?’ and that thought inspired the song. I was going to try to do all of these things ‘before I let go.’”

Beyoncé introduced the song to new generations when she produced a cover of it for “Homecoming: The Live Album.” He called Queen Bey’s version a blessing.

“Other people have done my songs, but the way she did this was in a class of its own. I’m hearing from people I haven’t heard from in years. She’s done something that has affected my life,” Beverly told Billboard . “I haven’t even spoken to a publication like yours in quite a while. So it’s changed things around for me.”

Additional songs were sampled by performers such as 50 Cent, Wale and Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock, The Washington Post reported.

Beverly continued performing through the years, finishing several concerts with Maze just two months ago, People reported.

The Washington Post said that in addition to singing Beverly was also a producer and a guitar player.