Saxophonist Jimmy Castor died of apparent heart failure Monday in a Las Vegas hospital. He was 71.
According to his son, Jimmy Castor Jr., the funk and pop musician, had been hospitalized in November before undergoing a quadruple bypass surgery, reports the Associated Press.
PHOTOS: Hollywood’s Notable Deaths
Castor is best known for his 1972 song, “It’s Just Begun,” of which his son said, “no matter what country you’re in, no matter what language you speak, everyone knows it.”
Born in New York, Castor was head of the musical group the Jimmy Castor Bunch. His music, which also included another 1972 hit “Troglogyte,” has been sampled thousands of times by other artists, including Kanye West, Mos Def, the Spice Girls and Madonna.
