Social Media Remembers Funk Pioneer Jellybean Johnson

59th GRAMMY Awards - GRAMMY Gift Lounge - Day 3 — Source: Araya Doheny / Getty

The music industry has suffered another big loss. Garry George “Jellybean” Johnson, who was best known as the drummer for the pioneering funk band The Time, has died. He was 69.

A Chicago native whose mother moved the family to Minneapolis when he was young, Johnson joined the band Flyte Tyme as a teenager, which included Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. He played drums and guitar. Johnson collapsed at his home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park just days after his birthday on Nov. 19.

Known for his height, sharp suits and his top hat, Johnson played for several bands in the Minneapolis area throughout his career, but was best known as the drummer in The Time. Prince created the band, writing, recording and playing on its self-titled debut in 1981 before he even had any musicians together.

Eventually, installing Morris Day as the lead singer (who also played drums on the debut album), Prince recruited a band from musicians he knew from Minneapolis, including Johnson, Jam, Lewis, Monte Moir, Jerome Benton, and Jesse Johnson, the guitarist who also played in D’Angelo’s band The Vanguard.

After their debut hit single “Get it Up,” the Time became known as one of the tightest funk bands of the ’80s, following in the musical footsteps of ’70s groups like The Ohio Players while adding its own Minneapolis twist. Over the next few years, they would score multiple hits, including “Cool” and “Gigolos Get Lonely Too” from their first album, “The Walk” and “777-9311” in 1982, and “Jungle Love” in 1985.

Johnson was an integral part of the band and a fixture of the Minneapolis music scene through The Time’s many incarnations. He appeared in Purple Rain along with Day and the other members. After the Time broke up, mostly due to their frustration with Prince, who was both controlling and jealous of the success of the band he created, Johnson moved on to The Family with Benton, St. Paul Peterson, Eric Leeds and Susanna Melvoin. It was also put together by Prince. They released their self-titled debut in 1985, with one single, “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which would eventually become a #1 song for the late Sinead O’ Connor.

Johnson eventually joined his fellow bandmates Jam and Lewis in their production company Flyte Tyme. Jam and Lewis were one of the most successful production duos of the era, known mostly for their work with Janet Jackson, though they also produced The S.O.S Band, The Sounds of Blackness, The Human League and others.

Johnson produced several top 10 hit records during his tenure with Flyte Tyme, including Jackson’s #1 Billboard single “Black Cat” and “Innocent,” a top ten single for Alexander O’Neal that features Johnson’s blistering guitar solo. He also worked with Minneapolis band Mint Condition, producing its top 10 R&B hits “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)” and “Forever in Your Eyes” on their 1991 debut Meant to Be Mint.

In 2008, Johnson and The Time performed with Rihanna at the Grammy Awards. He returned to the Grammy stage for the tribute to Prince in 2017 and for the Grammy salute to Prince in 2020. In 2021, Johnson released his first solo project, Get Experienced. In 2022, The Time was awarded a Soul Train Lifetime Achievement Award.

In the last days of his life, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Johnson and his partner, Marty Bragg, attended Purple Rain: The Musical, the stage production based on the movie that is playing in Minneapolis before hopefully heading to Broadway. The couple was working on establishing the Minneapolis Sound Museum to honor the musicians who’ve come from the area.

Johnson is survived by Bragg and several children.

In a Facebook post on his birthday, Johnson wrote: “I’ve been blessed to live a life shaped by music, community, and the love of people who believed in me long before the world knew my name. When I look back, I don’t first think about the big stages or awards — I think about The Way… that little community center on the North Side of Minneapolis where a bunch of young kids picked up instruments and discovered who we were meant to be.”