Commodores Co-Founder Ronald LaPread Dead at 75

Ronald LaPread has died. The bassist, who co-founded the soul group the Commodores, recently died in New Zealand, where he’s lived for the past four decades. He was 75.

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LaPread’s daughter, Soraya LaPread, first revealed the news on her Instagram Story.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I must announce that my father, Ronald LaPread, has passed,” she wrote. She did not offer any other details about the circumstances surrounding her father’s death.

The New Zealand Herald, however, reported that LaPread died after a “a sudden medical event.” According to the outlet, LaPread stepped out as recently as May 29 when he attended the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards.

What to Know About the Commodores’ Ronald LaPread

LaPread co-founded the Commodores alongside Lionel Richie, Walter “Clyde” Orange, William “WAK” King, Milan Williams, and Thomas McClary in 1968.

According to TMZ, LaPread played on 11 albums with the band, lending his talents to songs including “Brick House,” “Three Times a Lady,” and “Easy.” 

In an interview clip posted on his Instagram account, LaPread recalled how “Brick House” almost didn’t make it onto an album.

“They say, ‘Ah, man, it’s too Black.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute. I’ll tell you what. I will give this song to the group. Just put it on the album.’ They said OK,” he said. “They put ‘Brick House’ on the tape recorder and they went crazy.”

“When you hear a hit song, it sends goosebumps all over your body. Before anything happens, you feel it,” LaPread added. “That’s the history. Song’s been played almost three billion times.”

LaPread left the group in 1986. However, he joined them on stage several more times over the years, most recentlyin 2025, the outlet reported.

In an interview LaPread posted on Instagram earlier this month, he reflected on fame.

“It’s good to be remembered, but you must also know, that these people are human and they are fallible. They make mistakes, they get sick, they die, they get hooked on drugs,” he said. “This will blow your mind. You will get into a fictitious life that’s not the real one. It’s not the real one.”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images