Ronald LaPread’s bass lines helped make the Commodores sound like a party and a slow dance at the same time, and now the music world is saying goodbye to one of Motown’s architects.
LaPread, a founding member and longtime bassist for the Commodores, has died at 75. His daughter, music producer Soraya LaPread, confirmed the news on social media, while 1News in New Zealand reported that he died in Auckland after a “sudden medical event.” No additional details about his cause of death have been released.
Born in Alabama, LaPread helped launch the group in 1968 with Lionel Richie, Walter “Clyde” Orange, William “WAK” King, Milan Williams and Thomas McClary while they were students at Tuskegee Institute. Before the world knew them as the Commodores, the musicians came together through campus bands and built the sound that later pushed them from college stages to Motown history.
LaPread’s bass work anchored some of the group’s most beloved records, including “Brick House,” “Three Times a Lady” and “Easy.” The Commodores became one of Motown’s signature acts during the 1970s and 1980s, blending funk, soul, pop and balladry with a groove that still lives in wedding receptions, cookouts and late-night playlists.
The bassist later moved to New Zealand, where he had lived for decades. He occasionally reunited with the Commodores for performances there, keeping his connection to the music alive long after stepping away from the band’s main lineup.
His death comes the same week the Commodores made headlines for pulling out of Freedom 250’s Great American State Fair. The group said it would not perform because it did not want to affiliate with any single political party.
LaPread leaves behind a legacy built less on noise than feel, proving bass players do not always need the spotlight to shape a room.
