It puzzles me. What are the circumstances surrounding his death?

I've been trying to figure this out for the longest.

At the time, there were stories about Roger's brother feeling that Roger owed him money. There was also talk about the brother/killer being strung-out and high at the time of the shooting. I don't know how much of it is really known since it was a murder-suicide situation.

They say that his brother wanted money from Roger for drugs and when Roger wouldn't give him any, he killed him.

I'm not claiming it's accurate, but wiki says:

The group became defunct after the April 25, 1999, deaths of Roger and Larry Troutman[1]. To this day, family members can give no clear motive as to why the murder-suicide committed by Larry on his younger brother happened though they agreed that the two brothers had had a business dispute.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that his brother was also mentally ill? I dunno. Could be making that up entirely.

Money for drugs and Larry was jealous becasue Roger has made California Love with Tupac and was gonna be richer than he was with Roger and Zapp!!

Plus be introduced to a whole new generation and Larry didn't like that.

Harlepolis said:

Roger wanted different representation over who was handling the money. An area that Larry had been in charge of for years. Word was that they got into an arguement and Larry shot Roger. Then Larry shot himself. Newer evidence has since surfaced. Roger was still alive when the police found him at 7:30 in the morning behind a recording studio that Roger owned. He was taken to the hospital where he died in surgery. Larry was found dead a few blocks away, in his car. A gun shot wound to his head.

Its a shame and damn near scary how such a VERY rare talent gone to waste in a matter of hours

No one knows. I live her in Dayton Ohio and heard ALL the rumors. One rumour that was pretty much agreed upon is that Roger was getting ready to go solo. Business and artisically. He was the gravy train. I heard he was tired of doing the music and sharing the publishing with Larry. Plus he was riding high off California Love and enjoying his new popularity. He was in great demand and if he had been alive T-Pain wouldn't stand a chance.

Harlepolis said:

What's worse is that his own brother killed him. Tragic.

blackguitaristz said:

Agreed.

Not related, but Roger was found with $7,300.00 in his sock.

blackguitaristz said:

This is entirely accurate.

What a damn tragedy.

truly gifted


Play Your Guitar, Brother Roger




http://www.youtube.com/wa...KeQEMOzUSo

uPtoWnNY said:

right and then his brother killed himself, so now we will never ever know the "real" deal of how everything went down.

I heard he gave a talk box to EPMD's Erick Sermon (a big Roger fanatic).

blackguitaristz said:

Exactly.

Cinnie said:

Wait a second. I thought Roger gave Teddy Riley & DJ Quik a talkbox as well.

TonyVanDam said:

Thats what I know

I had the pleasure of meeting Roger about a year before his death, at the Black Expo here in NY. He was there with Stephanie Mills. He was such a nice friendly person. We spoke about his music and how he felt about the other artists that have used his music. He told me that he loved it and that he was glad that his music would live on to influence future generations, long after he was gone. He shook my hand and I walked away. On the morning of his death, my mind went back to that day....I just could not believe what had happened, but at the same time, I was glad to have met someone like him.

I was actually gonna do a tribute thread on April 25, but got caught up. Anyway, this is the tribute that does it for me, "Do It Roger". Very well done.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...9CWxC4hF6Q

I've always stated that Roger has always been one of my musical heroes, right after James, Stevie, MJ, and Prince. He really was the last of the true funk artists.
[Edited 5/23/08 8:55am]

Found this rare footage of one of Roger's recording sessions,,,,

Harlepolis said:

I was trying to find the interview text with Erick Sermon saying this himself but I can't find it. I'm pretty sure it was the same interview where he says what he sampled for EPMD's "Crossover".

shorttrini said:

I've mentioned this several times on here before in the past; I too had the pleasure of meeting Roger not too long before his death. I was with my mother at Tower Records on Sunset in out here in L.A.. I saw Roger in the store and told my mom "That's Roger Troutman!" She knew who he was through me, because evers since I was 11, I was a mad fanitic over Zapp and Roger. I played their music TOO DEATH in our house. Plus I had seen Zapp/Roger several times in concert. So my mother was very familiar with who he was. Anyway, we went over to him and we talked a little bit to him. Very gracious person. I was able to tell him just how big a fan I was and how much respect I had for him as a muscian. I told him how much I dug his rock lead guitar work as well. He got a kick out of that. Said he didn't hear that too often. Then, I was like Tommy Davidson on Living Color when he gave somebody his card "BLAAAAAM!!". I gave Roger my business card telling him that I played and produced too. Blah Blah Blah. He said that he had been out here doing some more things with Dr.Dre. I never forget that he had on this pearl white suit and I seen him catching a taxi in the parking lot. I swear that I had a sad feeling seeing him getting in that taxi. Weird.

shorttrini said:

I've mentioned this several times on here before in the past; I too had the pleasure of meeting Roger not too long before his death. I was with my mother at Tower Records on Sunset in out here in L.A.. I saw Roger in the store and told my mom "That's Roger Troutman!" She knew who he was through me, because evers since I was 11, I was a mad fanitic over Zapp and Roger. I played their music TOO DEATH in our house. Plus I had seen Zapp/Roger several times in concert. So my mother was very familiar with who he was. Anyway, we went over to him and we talked a little bit to him. Very gracious person. I was able to tell him just how big a fan I was and how much respect I had for him as a muscian. I told him how much I dug his rock lead guitar work as well. He got a kick out of that. Said he didn't hear that too often. Then, I was like Tommy Davidson on Living Color when he gave somebody his card "BLAAAAAM!!". I gave Roger my business card telling him that I played and produced too. Blah Blah Blah. He said that he had been out here doing some more things with Dr.Dre. I never forget that he had on this pearl white suit and I seen him catching a taxi in the parking lot. I swear that I had a sad feeling seeing him getting in that taxi. Weird.

blackguitaristz said:

It is weird

Makes you wanna think where all THAT money went,,,esp his then-recent big success with California Love and Thin Line Between Love & Hate. Proves to me more and more about how shady this biz is

As for his guitar, I think he was thee BEST rhythm guitarist that ever lived, maybe I'm being over-the-top here, but his playing is truly exceptional.

Harlepolis said:

I've brought this up a few times on the ORG. Yes, Roger's funk guitar was some of the tightest ever. There R only a few guitarists in that league... Prince being one of them.

Funk guitar that is in the pocket, swung right, and leaves some space here and there, is an elusive art. Out of all of Prince's guitarists, the only one that could nail it was Mico. Never was a fan of Wendy's or Mike Scott's funk playing. Mike was tight, but didn't swing it... kind of cold.

Giovanni777 said:

I'm on the SAME page as you

Mico was the shit, even though he wasn't given the same light as Dez or Wendy did, but from the short space he got, he worked it for his advantage. They(him and Prince) didn't get along very well from what I gathered,,,and the shit hit the fan during the Naked tour I believe.

And I know I'll catch hell from this but out "the girls" who really was edgy and added something to Prince's music was Lisa Coleman IMO. Wendy added nothing but being there on the right place and the right time.

Harlepolis said:

Well, we do have a lot of same tastes in music. I've loved your threads in the past, about the Jazz artists particularly.

Well guess what? I agree with U again on the Wendy thing. When I wrote about not liking Mike Scott's feel on Funk guitar, I had written about Wendy as being my other least fav on Funk guitar, and even wrote, "I shouldn't even mention Wendy, 'cause she just doesn't apply"... then erased it.

Folks just don't get that Prince wasn't influenced by either Wendy or Lisa... He liked the way Lisa voiced her chords. He liked Wendy's direct input/opinion/personality... they were friends. Wendy was invaluable 2 Prince, yes... But she did not really influence his music. If folks want 2 speak strictly about the females, then Sheila influenced/inspired Prince more than anyone.

Hell, he gave The Revolution credit on albums they barely played on. 'Parade' is a good example.
[Edited 5/23/08 12:29pm]

Selling out and performing with shit hop trash like Tupac is definately a tragedy and definately grounds to bitchslap him. But to kill him....no.

vainandy said:

shake, shake it andy

shake it fuh me