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Djamilla Rosa Cochran/WireImageAttrell Cordes, known as Prince Be, of the pioneering hip-hop group P.M. Dawn, died Friday of renal kidney disease, He was 46. The duo confirmed the news on their website.
Cordes formed P.M. Dawn with his brother Jarett Cordes, known as DJ Minutemix, in 1988. The Jersey City, New Jersey duo had a number-one hit in 1991 with “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss.” They followed up by the singles “I’d Die Without You” and “Looking Through Patient Eyes.”
“Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” featured a sample of the Spandau Ballet song, “True,” On Saturday, Spandau Ballet member Gary Kemp, who wrote the song, tweeted, “Oh man, Prince Be has gone. I will be forever grateful to him for taking one of my songs and making it bigger and better forever. #PMDawn”
According to the band’s website, the group’s name came from “the idea that in the darkest hour comes the light.”
In 2005, Cordes appeared with his group on the NBC show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, beating fellow contestants Juice Newton, Animotion, Shannon and Missing Persons, winning $20,000 for juvenile diabetes research.
In a 2011 interview with his cousin Doc G, the singer revealed that Cordes had suffered multiple strokes and that one of his legs became gangrenous and had to be amputated below the kneecap.
He is survived by his wife Mary and three children: Christian, Mia and Brandon. He was 46.
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