Walter Scott of R&B group the Whispers dies at 81

Walter Scott, who with his duplicate member Wallace founded the Los Angeles-based R&B radical the Whispers — a hit-making unit successful the 1970s and ‘80s with songs similar “And the Beat Goes On,” “Rock Steady,” “Lady” and “Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong” — died Thursday, according to aggregate media outlets, including Billboard and the Los Angeles Sentinel. He was 81.

The Sentinel reported that Scott’s household said helium died successful Northridge aft a six-month bout with cancer.

With a smooth, danceable dependable built connected sturdy post-disco rhythms and cautiously arranged radical vocals, the Whispers enactment 15 songs wrong the Top 10 of Billboard’s R&B chart; “And the Beat Goes On” reached No. 1 successful 1980, followed by “Rock Steady,” which topped the tally successful 1987. The band’s euphony was wide sampled successful aboriginal years, including by 50 Cent, Mobb Deep, J. Cole and Will Smith, the past of whom utilized “And the Beat Goes On” arsenic the ground for his late-‘90s deed “Miami.”

In a station connected Instagram, the instrumentalist and filmmaker Questlove described Scott arsenic “one of the astir trusted voices successful ‘70s psyche music” and compared him to “the talented uncle successful the family….who btw could DUST you inna min w his dizzying blink & you mislaid him squiggle gee doo dweedy scatlibs.”

Scott was calved successful 1944 successful Fort Worth, Texas, and aboriginal moved to L.A. with his family; helium and his member started singing arsenic students astatine Jordan High School, according to the Sentinel, and formed the Whispers successful the mid-‘60s with Nicholas Caldwell, Marcus Hutson and Gordy Harmon. The radical spent clip successful San Francisco earlier Scott was drafted to service successful the Vietnam War.

The radical recorded for a bid of grounds companies but recovered its biggest occurrence connected Dick Griffey’s Solar label. The Whispers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.

Billboard said Scott is survived by his wife, Jan; 2 sons; 3 grandchildren and his brother.