Scott-Heron, who has been struggling with drug addiction for a long time, made a name in the '70s with his militant song 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'.
- May 28, 2011
AceShowbiz -
The world has lost one more music revolutionist, Gil Scott-Heron, who passed away on Friday, May 27 afternoon at the age of 62. Scott-Heron is dubbed "Godfather of Rap" for mixing poetry and music in "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" which made him famous back in the '70s.
His publicist said he died at St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan, New York but did not disclose the cause of death. Scott-Heron was known to be HIV positive and had struggled with drug addiction for years. The Associated Press reported that he had become ill after returning from a European trip.
Scott-Heron's friend Doris C. Nolan said about the death, "We're all sort of shattered." The lost has also become a trending subject on Twitter with musician Usher tweeting, "I just learned of the lost of a very important poet...R.I.P. Gil Scott Heron. The revolution will be live!!"
Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, raised in Jackson, Tennessee and attended college at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He was at first a novelist before turning to music to channel his views including the fury of black America in the post-civil rights era.
His struggle in health had been going on for years that he kept smoking crack until last year. "Ten to fifteen minutes of this, I don't have pain," he said. "I could have had an operation a few years ago, but there was an 8 percent chance of paralysis. I tried the painkillers, but after a couple of weeks I felt like a piece of furniture. It makes you feel like you don't want to do anything. This I can quit anytime I'm ready."
