R.I.P.: T-K Records Founder Henry Stone

James Brown, Henry Stone

Henry Stone, a fixture on the R&B and disco scene who was instrumental in the careers of Ray Charles, James Brown and KC & the Sunshine Band, has died.

He was 93, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Stone, a co-founder of the famed TK Records, died Thursday of natural causes at a Miami-area hospital, the funeral home Riverside Gordon Memorial Chapels confirmed.

Stone opened up a record-distribution business and recording studio in South Florida in 1948 and within a few years recorded his first artist, a pianist-singer from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind who would later become the legendary Ray Charles.

Stone's hits were on TK Records, which he co-founded with Steve Alaimo in 1972, and similar labels he founded. They included: "Get Down Tonight," "That's the Way (I Like It)", "Shake, Shake, Shake (Shake Your Booty)", "I'm Your Boogie Man" for KC & the Sunshine Band and "Ring My Bell" for Anita Ward, The Miami Herald reported.

Stone released Otis Williams and the Charms' No. 1 R&B hit, "Heart of Stone", in 1954. He was also instrumental in signing James Brown and the Famous Flames, earning the hit, "Please, Please, Please," which topped the R&B in 1956.

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