Casey Benjamin died at the age of 45.
He was a famous saxophonist and member of the first hip-hop band, the Robert Glasper Experiment.
Benjamin won two Grammy Awards and worked with famous hip-hop artists like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, and Nas. He was also part of the Robert Glasper Experiment.
Benjamin passed away on Monday, his management told Huff Post.
The cause of death was not given right away.
In a social media post, Benjamin’s bandmate Derrick Hodge expressed his sadness over his death. Benjamin, pianist Robert Glasper, and drummer Chris Dave were all in the band called the Robert Glasper Experiment.
The cause of his death was a pulmonary thromboembolism (blood clot)
“Tonight, I honor a brother… Casey Benjamin, thank you for inspiring me, for being a light in my life, and for your unbelievable influence on the music world,” Hodge said.
“And we will honor your memory and carry it with us.”
I’m having trouble putting together my thoughts right now, but I’ll say some of my last words again for you: I’m grateful for you and will always love you! “King, rest well.”
Benjamin began playing the saxophone when he was 8 years old. He was born in Queens, New York.
New Musical Express says Benjamin then went to the Harlem School of the Arts and the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art to learn more.
After that, he kept going to school at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.
During his career, the musician worked with many famous artists, such as John Legend, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick Lamar, and more.
Benjamin won two Grammys with the Robert Glasper Experiment.
The hip-hop group won Black Radio’s Best R&B Album in 2013.
After two years, they won the award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for Jesus Children.
There were a lot of sad posts on social media from artists and musicians who worked with Benjamin over the years.
“Rest In Peace Casey Benjamin,” Lupe Fiasco wrote on Instagram.
“I’m so grateful and respectful that I can’t even begin to say it.” I’m very sorry for the family, fans, and friends’ loss.
“Rest in peace Casey Benjamin,” singer-songwriter and composer Sinkane wrote on X, which used to be called Twitter.
“One of the best musicians of our time has died.” My friend, I will always love and miss you.
Questlove, who plays drums for The Roots, also said nice things about Benjamin and the Robert Glaser Experiment.
“Seriously…..damn near every member of this squad was a god in their own right and I considered #CaseyBenjamin the Horace Grant of the squad,” he wrote on the app.
“Being there gave Glasper the time and space to do what I think Glasper does best, which is paint colors, which would have been hard for Glasper to do if he had to lead the mission with only one keyboard.”
“It was always my dream to work with Casey whose vocoder work & sax work was just friggin otherworldly,” he said, later writing, “Rest in Melody Casey.”
