Jellybean Johnson, the Minneapolis musician and producer who was the drummer for the Prince-affiliated funk-rock group The Time, has died. He was 69.

His cause of death is unknown. TMZ first reported Johnson’s passing, noting that he died Friday night (Nov. 21) according to a statement obtained by his family.

Prince recruited Johnson (real name Garry George Johnson), who grew up in Minneapolis and was self-taught on drums and guitar, for The Time, an act born out of the city’s Flyte Tyme in 1981. As a member of The Time — and later, Prince’s The Family — Johnson helped establish the funk-rock, new wave and synth-pop hybrid that became known as the Minneapolis Sound. He appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in 1984’s Purple Rain and as himself in 1990’s Graffiti Bridge.

The Time

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