Fugees and Refugee Camp All-Stars collaborator and producer John Forté has died.
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He was found dead at his home in Chilmark, Massachusetts on Monday (January 12), according to police, reports the Associated Press.
Chilmark Police Chief Sean Slavin said in a statement that there were no signs of foul play or “readily apparent cause of death.” The case is being investigated by the state medical examiner’s office.
According to the Martha Vineyard Times via Complex, Forté suffered a serious health issue last year when he was hospitalised following a seizure. Since then, he had reportedly been taking medication to prevent the threat of a grand mal seizure.
Forté was a member of the musical collective Refugee Camp All-Stars, a group of musicians who worked with Wyclef Jean on his 1997 debut album ‘Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival’.
He also produced and rapped on the Fugees’ breakthrough LP ‘The Score’, and appeared on the song ‘Rumble In The Jungle’, which featured on the soundtrack to the 1996 Muhammad Ali documentary When We Were Kings.
Reacting the news of his death, Jean posted footage of him performing ‘Ready Or Not’ with Forté on Instagram.
“This one hurts my brother @john_forte has joined the Angels legends never Die look at the smile R I P my Refugee brother,” he wrote.
Later in his career, Forté produced and composed for the Sundance Film Festival, the Brooklyn Nets, the documentary series Brooklyn DA, and more.
He also released a number of solo albums, the most recent of which – ‘Vessels, Angels & Ancestors’ – came out in 2021.
In 2000, he was arrested at Newark International Airport and charged with possession of liquid cocaine and drug trafficking. Forté was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but the sentence was commuted after seven years by President George W. Bush.
Forté is survived by his wife, photographer Lara Fuller, and their two children.
Elsewhere, Pras Michel, a founding member of Fugees, was recently sentenced to 14 years in prison for his involvement in a billion-dollar Malaysian money laundering scheme.
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