Clyde Stubblefield, known for his work with James Brown, died on February 17 of kidney failure. He was 73 years old. Stubblefield was born in Chattanooga, Tenn. In 1943 and had lived in Madison, Wis. since the early 1970s. He toured with Otis Redding before joining Brown in 1965, where he played alongside drummer John “Jabo” Starks. Stubblefield played on many of Brown’s recordings in the 1960s and early ’70s, including “Cold Sweat,” “Ain’t It Funky Now,” ”Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” ”I’ve Got the Feelin’,” and the album Sex Machine. He played a short solo on Brown’s 1970 single, “Funky Drummer,” which, according to Rolling Stone magazine, was sampled on over 1,000 songs and served as the backbeat for many hip-hop songs, including Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” Dr. Dre’s “Let Me Ride,” LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out,” and Run-D.M.C.’s “Run’s House.”

In 2011, Stubblefied told The New York Times, “People use my drum patterns on a lot of these songs. They never gave me credit, never paid me. It didn’t bug me or disturb me, but I think it’s disrespectful not to pay people for what they use.”

After leaving Brown, Stubblefield and Starks formed the Funkmasters, who recorded two albums and an instructional video. Stubblefield also released several solo albums, including 1997’s Revenge of the Funky Drummer.

Stubblefield was highly respected by other musicians. According to the Associated Press, when Prince found out in 2000 that Stubblefield was in debt from a fight against bladder cancer, he secretly paid $90,000 to cover Stubblefield’s bills.