Leonard “Hub” Hubbard, the Roots’ former bassist who spent 15 years in the Philadelphia collective, has died at the age of 62.

Philadelphia’s ABC 6 first reported Hubbard’s death Thursday; with the Philadelphia Inquirer adding that the cause was multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer; “Hub” had been battling cancer since 2007, the same year he left the Roots. “It happened quickly,” his wife, Stephanie Hubbard, told ABC 6. “He didn’t suffer a lot.”

Stephanie Hubbard told ABC 6 that Hubbard was hospitalized Wednesday night, adding that he was “energetic and mobile” before suddenly not being able to move.

“It’s with the heaviest of hearts that we say goodbye to our brother Leonard Nelson Hubbard,” the group wrote in a statement. “May your transition bring peace to your family to your friends to your fans and all of those who loved you. Rest in Melody Hub.”

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