An unfortunate part of life is that those that we love will not live forever. With a heavy heart we must report that legendary singer/songwriter and Soul legend Leon Ware has passed away at the age of 77 reported by PITCHFORK via NPR. Leon Ware has worked with a number of legendary artists ranging from Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Quincy Jones. It has not been revealed what the cause of death was but it is known that Ware was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the mid 2000’s.

Leon Ware first broke into the music business as a singer for the legendary record label Motown. While over at Motown he was able to write for the likes of Donny Hathaway and The Isley Brothers. Possibly his most famous work was working on Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” follow up “I Want You”. He wrote Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are” and Minnie Ripperton’s “Inside My Love”.

Ware was not one to look down on the new generation of singers. In 1996 he collaborated with Maxwell on “Sumthin Sumthin” from Maxwell’s album titled Urban Hang Suite.

The hip-hop generation is known for sampling many artists that inspired them and Ware was one of those individuals. Ware has been sampled by JAY Z, Tupac, A Tribe Called Quest, singer brandy and many others. Ware has worked with this new generation of rappers from Tyler The Creator to Theophilus London.