Phil Upchurch, Soulful Architect of Modern R&B and Jazz, Dies at 84

Phil Upchurch, a Chicago-born guitarist and composer whose six-decade career bridged jazz, soul and R&B and included collaborations with Donny Hathaway, Chaka Khan and Michael Jackson, died Nov. 23, 2025, in Los Angeles at 84. (Photo by Sonya Maddox-Upchurch)

Phil Upchurch’s guitar never shouted for attention, but if you grew up on Donny Hathaway, Chaka Khan, Curtis Mayfield or Michael Jackson, you’ve been living in his chords your whole life.

His wife, singer and actor Sonya Maddox-Upchurch, confirmed in a statement shared Dec. 2 that the guitarist died Nov. 23 in Los Angeles at 84.

“Phil was my husband, my musical partner, and my heart,” she wrote. “He touched so many lives through his gift and his spirit, and I thank everyone for the love and memories being shared. Please keep our family in your prayers as we celebrate his life and legacy.”

News of his passing spread slowly outside musician circles, as tributes from peers like Chaka Khan and George Benson began appearing in early December — a delay that feels fitting for a man who spent a lifetime behind the spotlight, shaping songs that defined modern soul and jazz without ever demanding the credit.

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A Chicago native born July 19, 1941, Upchurch came up in neighborhood R&B bands before becoming a house guitarist for Chess Records, backing artists like The Dells and Jerry Butler. In 1961 he scored his own hit with the instrumental “You Can’t Sit Down,” which reached the pop Top 40 and made his name a fixture on soul jukeboxes.

From there, he built the kind of resume that makes other musicians speak his name with reverence. He anchored Curtis Mayfield’s “Super Fly” era, worked with the Staple Singers, and became a trusted collaborator for Quincy Jones — a relationship that eventually landed him on Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall,” where his guitar on “Workin’ Day and Night” drives one of Jackson’s funkiest grooves.

Jazz, blues, gospel, R&B — Upchurch moved through all of it without ever sounding out of place. Over the decades he recorded or toured with B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, George Benson, Carmen McRae, David Sanborn and Ramsey Lewis, while still cutting his own albums like “The Way I Feel,” “Darkness, Darkness,” and the late-career favorite “Tell the Truth!”

For soul heads, his most sacred work may be with Donny Hathaway. Upchurch’s playing on “Donny Hathaway Live” helped turn those 1971 club dates into a master class in feel — the kind of record musicians still study to understand how to lift a vocalist without crowding them.

That sensitivity is exactly what Chaka Khan singled out in her tribute shared after his passing:

“Phil Upchurch was a rare light — steady, brilliant & deeply rooted in the music we created together. From the earliest days of my career, his playing carried a grace and sensitivity that lifted every note and every moment. I’m grateful for all the years of friendship, the wisdom he shared, and the joy we found in making music side by side. May he rest in peace, and may we continue to honor him by celebrating the music he helped bring into this world.”

Coming from an artist whose own catalog helped define ’70s and ’80s soul, that’s not boilerplate condolence — it’s peer-level recognition of a musician other legends leaned on.

Upchurch’s story is also a reminder of how much Black music history rests on names that never make the marquee. The same hands that drove his own hit “You Can’t Sit Down” were there for sessions and soundtracks that powered an entire era — from blaxploitation classics like “Super Fly” and “Claudine” to jazz-fusion experiments and church-bred soul.

For nearly six decades, if you cared about the intersection of jazz, gospel, R&B and pop, you’ve been hearing Phil Upchurch whether you knew his name or not.

Now the name is on the record, too.

Jay-Z Bets Big on Korea’s Creative Boom in $500M Partnership With Hanwha

Jay-Z, whose firm MarcyPen Capital Partners is launching a $500 million fund with South Korea’s Hanwha Asset Management, continues to expand his global business empire from boardrooms to Seoul.

Jay-Z’s 2025 was quiet on wax but loud in boardrooms. Now, months after his billion-dollar MarcyPen Capital merger, the Brooklyn mogul is taking his hustle global — partnering with South Korea’s Hanwha Asset Management to launch a $500 million investment fund aimed at the booming Asian culture and lifestyle markets.

The deal, signed during Abu Dhabi Finance Week, creates MarcyPen Asia, a new vehicle to back fast-rising brands in entertainment, beauty, fashion and food — essentially, the same creative engines powering the worldwide “K-wave.” MarcyPen, which manages roughly $1 billion, will be the majority investor. Hanwha, one of South Korea’s largest financial groups with about ₩120 trillion (nearly $81 billion) under management, will lead sourcing and fund operations.

“South Korea is a cultural nexus of Asia, influencing global trends in beauty, content, food, entertainment and lifestyle,” said Robbie Robinson, MarcyPen’s managing partner and CEO. Hanwha CEO Kim Jong-ho told the Financial Times that the partnership marks “a rare inflow of private equity” into industries that have traditionally relied on corporate or government backing.

Hanwha Asset Management CEO Jong-Ho (James) Kim, left, and MarcyPen Capital Partners managing partner and CEO Robbie Robinson pose after signing a memorandum of understanding during Abu Dhabi Finance Week 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The agreement underpins a planned $500 million fund to invest in Asian culture and lifestyle companies. 

The move connects two of the world’s most powerful creative economies — hip-hop’s blueprint for ownership and K-culture’s mastery of global influence. The K-pop explosion that gave rise to BTS and Blackpink reshaped how music and style move across borders. Now, Jay-Z’s investment arm is betting that what started as sonic and visual influence can become equity.

MarcyPen, formed in 2024 when Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners merged with Pendulum Opportunities, focuses on businesses that “create, move and lead culture.” The firm’s portfolio has included spirits, wellness and tech startups grounded in the same ethos that powered Roc Nation: cultural authenticity as economic capital.

Jay-Z, MarcyPen and the Business of Culture

From Marcy to MarcyPen
Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter moved from rapper and label head to full-scale investor over the past two decades, building on ventures that ranged from Rocawear and Roc Nation to streaming platform TIDAL and his stake in Armand de Brignac champagne. In 2024, his venture firm Marcy Venture Partners merged with Pendulum Opportunities to form MarcyPen Capital Partners, a U.S.-based private equity firm that now manages around $1 billion in assets and focuses on brands that "create, move and lead culture."

What MarcyPen does
MarcyPen backs early- and growth-stage companies in consumer goods, technology, lifestyle, health and entertainment. The strategy is built on the idea that cultural influence can translate directly into equity and long-term value, especially when the founders come from the communities driving those trends.

Why Korea — and why now
South Korea has become a global culture engine, exporting everything from K-pop and film to skincare, food and streetwear. The planned $500 million MarcyPen Asia fund, launched with Hanwha Asset Management, is designed to help high-potential Korean and Asian brands scale worldwide while giving Black-led capital a direct stake in the next wave of global culture.

The Korean partnership takes that vision further. From K-dramas and Seoul streetwear to skincare routines that went viral through Black and Brown influencers stateside, the cultural traffic between South Korea and the diaspora has been real for years — this deal simply formalizes the money flow behind it.

Hanwha and MarcyPen plan to begin raising capital in the second half of 2026, targeting sovereign funds, private investors and global institutions. If successful, MarcyPen Asia could help Asian-owned creative companies expand worldwide — and put Black-led venture capital squarely at the table shaping that growth.

Still, there’s a cautionary note. Private equity has a history of chasing short-term wins over long-term community investment. But Jay-Z’s track record — from Armand de Brignac champagne to Tidal to Roc Nation Sports — shows he tends to build equity, not just headlines.

If this plays out, it won’t just mark another billionaire move. It could signal a new era of cultural cross-ownership — where the next global hit, brand, or creative platform might be financed by a pipeline that runs from Marcy Projects to Seoul.

Teyana Taylor’s Golden Globe Nod Crowns a Year When the Culture Took Center Stage

Teyana Taylor in “One Battle After Another.” Her fearless performance in Ryan Coogler’s drama, now a Golden Globe contender, embodies the rise of authentic, culture-rooted storytelling that reshaped this year’s awards season. (Photo Courtesy Warner Bros.)

Teyana Taylor walked into awards season as an outsider again — no big-budget campaign, no glossy magazine spread, no studio whispering her name into voters’ ears. But when the 2026 Golden Globe nominations dropped today, the Harlem-born artist’s name landed right where it belonged: on the list.


Her supporting role in “One Battle After Another,” a bruising indie drama that went from festival buzz to nine nominations, marked one of the few times the Globes have recognized a performer who started her career choreographing for Beyoncé and grinding through the same hip-hop hustle that Hollywood pretended didn’t exist.

For longtime fans who first saw her dancing in Jay-Z videos or directing her own visuals under the moniker “Spike Tey,” the news hit different. Taylor, now nominated for Best Supporting Actress for “One Battle After Another” — the year’s most-nominated film — walked into awards season with the same mix of grit and grace that’s carried her through every reinvention.

Where the Culture Showed Up at the 2026 Golden Globes

Key nominees announced Dec. 8, 2025, for the 83rd Golden Globes:

• "One Battle After Another" – Leads all films with 9 nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and a Supporting Actress nod for Teyana Taylor.
• "Sinners" – Scores 7 nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director (Ryan Coogler), Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson) and Best Original Song for "I Lied to You" by Göransson and Raphael Saadiq.
• Tessa Thompson – Nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for "Hedda".
• Cynthia Erivo – Nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for "Wicked: For Good", which also picked up Best Original Song nods.
• Ayo Edebiri – Returns to the TV comedy race for her work in "The Bear".
• Quinta Brunson – Continues her awards run with another nomination for "Abbott Elementary" in the comedy series field.

For the full list of 2026 Golden Globe nominees, visit GoldenGlobes.com.

She wasn’t alone. With "Sinners," Ryan Coogler’s return to prestige filmmaking, Michael B. Jordan earned a Best Actor nod, solidifying the pair as modern cinema’s Scorsese and De Niro.. Composer Ludwig Göransson and Raphael Saadiq’s “I Lied to You” brought the film its fourth nomination, giving soul music a rare home inside a category once dominated by pop ballads and movie musicals.

From Teyana to Michael, from Cynthia Erivo’s “Wicked: For Good” nomination to Ayo Edebiri and Quinta Brunson representing television’s comedy elite, the 2026 Globes quietly told a story years in the making: the artists shaped by Black music, hip-hop aesthetics and R&B storytelling no longer sit at the margins of Hollywood — they are the pulse.

That change didn’t come from committees or press releases. It came from the culture refusing to wait for permission. When the HFPA scandal forced the Globes to rebuild, the world outside kept moving — through mixtapes, streaming, indie film circuits, and TikTok threads where music, politics, and performance blur daily. The result? Hollywood’s old party suddenly sounds like something new.

There are still gaps. No major hip-hop documentaries or biopics made the cut. Streaming platforms with Black showrunners remain under-nominated. But the list feels alive — reflective of a generation that grew up with Dilla drums under Scorsese cuts and Nina Simone lyrics sampled on Billboard hits.

If the Globes are finally listening, it’s because the culture stopped asking to be heard.