Dynasty co-founder Kevin Spencer, whose voice and musicianship helped shape the funk and R&B sound of the late 1970s and ’80s, has died.
Spencer died September 17 at age 71 following a battle with cancer, according to an obituary published by Legacy.
The singer, keyboardist, bassist and songwriter was an original member of Dynasty, the Los Angeles group created by producer Leon Sylvers III and legendary SOLAR Records founder Dick Griffey.
Spencer formed the original trio alongside singers Nidra Beard and Linda Carriere in 1978, becoming part of a musical family that would help define the distinctive “SOLAR sound” alongside acts including Shalamar and the Whispers.
According to accounts of the group’s beginnings, Spencer made quite an entrance. He reportedly arrived unannounced at Sylvers’ home in Palos Verdes hoping to audition as a bass player. That bold move eventually helped land him a place in the new group.
Dynasty released its debut album, “Your Piece of the Rock,” in 1979.
The record included “I Don’t Want to Be a Freak (But I Can’t Help Myself),” which became a major British hit. Official Charts records show the song reached No. 20 in the United Kingdom and remained on the chart for 13 weeks.
But Dynasty’s signature American hit arrived the following year.
“I’ve Just Begun to Love You,” from the group’s 1980 album “Adventures in the Land of Music,” climbed to No. 6 on Billboard’s R&B chart. It also crossed over to the U.S. pop chart and reached No. 51 in Britain.
The album would go on to have an unexpected second life decades later as hip-hop artists discovered Dynasty’s music.
The title track, “Adventures in the Land of Music,” has been sampled in recordings connected to Camp Lo, Jadakiss, Wiz Khalifa, Angie Stone and numerous other artists, introducing the group’s sound to generations of listeners who were not even born when the original record arrived.
Spencer remained involved with Dynasty through albums including “The Second Adventure” in 1981 and “Right Back at Cha!” in 1982.
After Dynasty’s original run came to an end following the 1988 album “Out of Control,” Spencer continued working within the music industry, with credits connected to artists including Carrie Lucas, Shalamar, the Whispers and Gladys Knight & the Pips.
Carrie Lucas-Griffey, who helped build the SOLAR Records family with her late husband Dick Griffey, paid tribute to Spencer following his death.
She remembered him as a multi-talented performer who could sing, write songs and play both keyboards and bass, while also contributing background vocals to other SOLAR artists.
Lucas-Griffey said Spencer was considered part of the label’s family and offered condolences to his loved ones.
His death marks another painful loss for Dynasty fans.
Keyboardist and vocalist William Shelby, who later performed with Dynasty and Lakeside, died in 2021 at 65.
Then in December 2023, original Dynasty singer Nidra Beard died from cancer at age 71. Beard had been one of the voices behind the group’s biggest records, including “I’ve Just Begun to Love You.”
Now Spencer’s death leaves another hole in the group that helped soundtrack an important period in American funk, soul and R&B.
But Dynasty’s music has proved remarkably difficult to leave in the past.
More than four decades after the group’s biggest hits, its songs continue to appear in samples, playlists and classic R&B collections — keeping Spencer’s work alive for listeners who may never have realized just how much of today’s music can be traced back to the sound he helped create.