Grammy-nominated artist and Island resident John Forté died suddenly Monday at his home in Chilmark. He was 50 years old.
Chilmark police on Tuesday confirmed Mr. Forté died, but there was no immediate determination into the cause. Police Chief Sean Slavin said no foul play was suspected.
A recording artist and producer, Mr. Forté was famous for his work with The Fugees on the group’s seminal album The Score. He also had several albums under his own name, and created music for television and movies. Here on the Island, he was married to Lara Fuller, and his two children, Haile and Wren, attened the Chilmark School.
Police responded to a call around 2:25 p.m. at the home on Hewing Field for a report of an unresponsive man. When police and paramedics arrived, they pronounced Mr. Forté dead at the scene.
The case has been handed over to state police with the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, and is under investigation by the state medical examiner’s office. There was no readily apparent cause of death, according to Chief Slavin.
Mr. Forté forged a deep friendship with Islanders Ben and Sally Taylor and their mother Carly Simon. In a 2010 interview with the Gazette, Mr. Forté said he considered Ms. Simon an adopted godmother.
“She’s my champion, my crusader, my mentor, my friend, my spiritual guru. She’s an awesome human being,” he said before a concert at Nectar’s.
Mr. Taylor noted that Mr. Forte had what seemed like an endless supply of wisdom and inspiration.
“Whether I was wading out of my philosophical depth, learning a new song or trying to wrap my head around the impact of political change, John always made me feel heard,” he wrote in a statement to the Gazette. “Every idea that we shared was fluid. Like water always finding its own level, making its way and taking the shape of any vessel which held it.”
Mr. Forté carved a path in the music industry as a hip-hop artist, producer and singer, performing with some of the biggest names in hip hop in the 1990s. More recently, he worked with Island resident Dawn Porter on her revitalization of Eyes on the Prize, a Civil Rights documentary that aired on HBO last year.
Ms. Porter reached out to Mr. Forté and the two began collaborating during the pandemic; Mr. Forté composed the score for the series. Mr. Forté also brought in charter school student Fiona Brown, a young Island singer he knew through Kate Taylor, for additional vocals.
Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Forté first came to New England for academics, where he was classically trained on the violin and earned a scholarship to Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. One of Ben Taylor’s cousins was a classmate at Exeter.
After high school, Mr. Forté was introduced to hip hop legends such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Lauryn Hill. Mr. Forte produced and wrote several tracks on The Fugees’ 1996 critical hit, The Score.
The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards, and won for Best Rap Album.
Just four years later, Mr. Forté was arrested on drug possession charges that included a mandatory 14-year prison sentence. But, with the advocacy of Ms. Simon and the Taylors, and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, President George Bush later commuted the sentence and Mr. Forté was released in 2008.
Some of his work after the ordeal focused on his time in prison and returning to society.
“There’s the realization aspect that some prisons are not physical,” he told the Gazette in 2010. “There are many people whom I’ve encountered since returning, some of them feign indifference and others act as if they could have no clue about what it would be like to be in prison, but they’re in an abusive relationship or they’re in a dead-end job or they are suffering with their health. We all have to go through some sort of prison — some are spiritual, some are mental and some are physical.”
Ms. Simon said she first met Mr. Forte through her son, Ben, but then, during his prison sentence, they talked nearly every day on the phone.
“I would get a call from the jail,” Ms. Simon said in an interview this week. “He also sent me letters nearly every day, which I saved. I have nearly 700 letters from him.”
Ms. Simon said his death is a huge loss.
“He was brilliant and had charm and class and talent.”
When Mr. Forte first came to the Island after his prison sentence was commuted, he lived in the guest house on her property, Ms. Simon said, and the two would frequently collaborate.
“He helped me with two songs in particular on my Bedroom Tapes album,” she said. “And he produced a new version of my song You Belong to Me, which was a hit in the ‘70s. He did a really great version of it.”
The two were also working together recently.
“I have not been well lately and he has been a huge help, listening to what I am doing and playing percussion on songs,” Ms. Simon said.
“He was such a presence, and a beloved member of my family,” she added.
Bill Eville contributed to this article.
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