Latest Release
- 15 MAR 2024
- 1 Song
- Celebrate! · 1980
- Something Special · 1981
- Emergency · 1984
- Wild and Peaceful · 1973
- Light of Worlds · 1974
- Ladies' Night · 1979
- The Very Best of Kool & The Gang · 1984
- The Very Best of Kool & The Gang · 1979
- The Very Best of Kool & The Gang · 1980
- Wild and Peaceful · 1973
Essential Albums
- 1981
- 1980
- 1979
- Kool & The Gang’s fourth studio album is a full-on funkfest, finding Robert “Kool” Bell and co. neck-deep in hard-grinding grooves. With its serpentine horn lines and down-and-dirty feel, “Jungle Boogie” is the band at its party-starting best, but the appropriately titled “Funky Stuff” and the hectic, heavy-grooving “This Is You, This Is Me” hit just as hard. The band take a couple of brief breaks from funking it up, too: Dreamy ballad “Heaven at Once” and the breezy, jazzy title track hint at their multifaceted musical makeup.
- 1996
- 1993
- 1989
- 1986
- 1984
- 2008
- 2006
- 2005
- 2005
Artist Playlists
- From funk to disco and beyond.
- Their original tunes have been the source material for some of modern music’s biggest hits.
- Their funky disco-soul influenced generations of party-starters.
- Look beyond the R&B hits to find their roots in soul jazz.
Singles & EPs
Live Albums
Appears On
- Dzeko & David Solomon
- Jamiroquai
- Various Artists
More To Hear
- Honoring Kool & The Gang and drummer George Brown.
- Bluey celebrates Kool & The Gang and Tower Of Power.
- Q-Tip and Natasha Diggs celebrate the start of the season.
About Kool & The Gang
After finding success as a gritty funk band in the mid-’70s, Kool & The Gang reinvented themselves with a poppier sound and scored massive hits like songs like “Ladies’ Night”, “Cherish” and the timeless party jam “Celebration”. • In 1964, Robert “Kool” Bell, his brother Ronald, and their friends Clifford Adams, Charles Smith, Woody Sparrow, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Dennis “D.T.” Thomas, Ricky West and Funky George Brown formed The Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey. • They became Kool & the Gang in 1969 and released their self-titled debut album the following year. • Their commercial breakthrough came with 1973’s gold-certified Wild and Peaceful. The album spawned two Top 10 pop hits: “Jungle Boogie” and “Hollywood Swinging”. The latter was the band’s first R&B chart-topper. • Eclipsed by the rise of disco in the mid-’70s, the Gang enlisted singer James “J.T.” Taylor and modernized their sound. The approach paid off—1979’s Ladies’ Night went platinum and yielded two Top 10 pop hits: the title track and “Too Hot”. • “Celebration”, the lead single off 1980’s Celebrate! album, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. • Boasting double-platinum sales and three Top 10 pop singles—including the No. 2 smash “Cherish”—1984’s Emergency marked the peak of the band’s commercial success. • Kool & The Gang has continued touring and recording well into the 21st century. Their 2016 single “Sexy” went Top 20 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart.
- ORIGIN
- Jersey City, NJ, United States
- FORMED
- 1964
- GENRE
- R&B/Soul