John Blackwell

American R&B, funk, jazz, fusion, and pop drummer. Born: September 9th 1973, Columbia, South Carolina, USA Died: July 4th 2017 in Tampa, Florida, USA. After working with Cameo and Patti LaBelle, John Blackwell was recruited by Prince and took over Kirk Johnson's position as drummer of The New Power Generation in September 2000. After the Musicology Live 2004ever tour, John Blackwell left The NPG and was recruited by Justin Timberlake, with whom he toured with for two years. He returned to working with Prince in July 2010, while pursuing his own projects and collaborating with other artists. He passed away on July 4th, 2017 as a result of a brain tumor.