NEW YORK – Musician Gil Scott-Heron, who helped lay the groundwork for rap by fusing minimalistic percussion, political expression and spoken-word poetry on songs such as "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" but saw his brilliance undermined by a years-long drug addiction, has died at age 62.
A friend, Doris C. Nolan, who answered the telephone listed for his Manhattan recording company, said he died Friday afternoon at St. Luke's Hospital after becoming sick upon returning from a trip to Europe.
"We're all sort of shattered," she said.
Scott-Heron was known for work that reflected the fury of black America in the post-civil rights era and also spoke to the social and political disparities in the country. His songs often had incendiary titles — "Home is Where the Hatred Is" or "Whitey on the Moon" — and through spoken word and song he tapped the frustration of the masses.