Frankie Beverly, soul singer and co-founder of soul-funk band Maze, dies at 77

Frankie Beverly performs at the 2019 Essence Festival in New Orleans. “This period for is one of healing, and your respect for our need for solitude is appreciated as we honor the memory of our beloved Howard Stanley Beverly known to the world as Frankie Beverly.” The family said the singer — who was best known for his high, rich voice and the hits “Joy and Pain” and “Before I Let Go” — “lived his life with pure soul as one would say, and for us, no one did it better. From 1977 to 1993, Frankie Beverly and Maze turned out R&B hits such as “Golden Time of Day,” “We Are One,” “Happy Feelin’s,” “Southern Girl” and “Before I Let Go,” which was later covered by Mary J. Blige as well as Beyoncé at Coachella in 2018. Two albums — 1985’s “Can’t Stop the Love” and 1989’s “Silky Soul” — led the Billboard R&B Albums chart, and yielded two number one R&B singles, “Back in Stride” and “Can’t Get Over You.” That acclaim didn’t translate into enormous album sales — Maze’s studio albums peaked at No. When the Forum in Inglewood re-opened in 2014, Magic Johnson was thrilled to see Beverly perform there, calling Maze “one of our all-time favorite bands.” Asked about the Beyoncé cover, Beverly told Billboard that “She’s a great friend of mine, but I didn’t know she was going to do this.