Keith LeBlanc, Pioneering Drummer on Early Hip-Hop Classics by Grandmaster Flash and Sugar Hill Gang, Dies at 69
Keith LeBlanc, a drummer, producer and recording artist best known for his work on pioneering early hip-hop records by Grandmaster Flash and others, died Thursday after a battle with an undisclosed illness, his wife Fran LeBlanc confirms to Variety. Later in his career he worked extensively as a producer, session musician — including on Nine Inch Nails’ 1989 debut “Pretty Hate Machine” — and member of the bands Tackhead and Little Axe. He was 69.
While hip-hop is far more commonly associated with electronic drums, the genre’s early records were mostly played by live musicians, with LeBlanc, bassist Doug Wimbish and guitarist Skip McDonald were a house band for the groundbreaking labels Sugar Hill — which released Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and galvanizing early singles by Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel — as well as Tommy Boy Records. The music required both precision and flair, and the trio were ace musicians who both held down the beat and gave songs like Sugharhill Gang’s “Apache” and “8th Wonder” and Grandmaster Flash’s “Freedom” and “It’s Nasty” a vitality to support the rappers and their lyrics.
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Ironically, he scored an underground solo hit in 1983 with “No Sell Out,” which was one of the first sample-based songs of note and featured LeBlanc on synthesizers and a drum machine. Credited to Malcolm X and featuring the late minister and activist’s voice over LeBlanc’s music, all proceeds from the song went to Malcolm X’s family; the song received rapturous reviews and even reached No. 60 on the U.K. singles chart, a remarkable feat for an independent release at the time.
Raised in Connecticut, LeBlanc was inspired to play drums by the Beatles and played in multiple bands as a teenager. In the late 1970s, his friend Harold Sargent was leaving his role in the house band at Sugar Hill brought in LeBlanc to audition for Wimbish and McDonald. He remained with the label until 1982, playing on songs by Kool Moe Dee & the Treacherous 3, the Crash Crew, the Funky 4+ 1 and others, before moving over to Tommy Boy and session work. During this time he also played on the debut album by the Force MDs and played a key role in the 1985 “Sun City” anti-apartheid project and album led by “Little” Steven Van Zandt.
In the early 1980s, LeBlanc met British producer Adrian Sherwood, who was best known for his work with dub music but mixed or produced recordings by Depeche Mode and Ministry, and soon began collaborating with him, bringing in Wimbish and McDonald. Calling themselves Tackhead, the four worked under a dizzying array of names and with many collaborators — whether Tackhead, Gary Clail, Dub Syndicate, Barmy Army, Mark Stewart and the Maffia or any of a number of releases on Sherwood’s On-U-Sound label, the team worked on dozens of recordings throughout the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Tackhead actually signed with the U.S. major label SBK and released the “Strange Things” album — featuring veteran session singer Bernard Fowler — but unsurprisingly did not remain with the company. The group dispersed in the early 1990s but reunited for tours in 2004 and 2022.
In later years LeBlanc worked with McDonald’s blues-influenced group Little Axe and on solo material. He released six solo albums over the years, with a career-spanning compilation, “Stop the Confusion (Global Interference),” arriving in 2005. Yet the final word is yet to come: Hip-hop historian Jay Quan is working on a documentary about LeBlanc’s life and career.
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