Shaun Martin, a multiple Grammy winner best known as a keyboard player for the jazz fusion group Snarky Puppy and a three-decade collaborator of gospel star Kirk Franklin, died Saturday at age 45.
Martin had been under constant medical supervision since suffering a massive stroke in April 2023. In November, Franklin had posted a tribute hoping for Martin’s recovery against difficult odds, saying the musician was still “fighting for his life” and describing him at the time as “my right hand, my North Star, my musical collaborator for over 25 years.”
Martin was also known for helping write and produce Erykah Badu‘s sophomore album, “Mama’s Gun,” as well as for being a member of Chaka Khan’s backing band, not to mention his role as a minister of music in one of Texas’ biggest churches.
Badu was one of a number of artists who had recently been announced to perform at a benefit tribute to Martin in Dallas on Sept. 14, along with Robert Glasper, Norah Jones and others.
Martin won four Grammys for his work with Franklin, in the best gospel album and contemporary R&B gospel album categories. Other web sources put his Grammy total at seven, including three won by Snarky Puppy while he was a member.
Martin was particularly renowned in his home region. Dallas’ ABC television affiliate, WFAA, described the musician as being “among the most celebrated musicians Dallas has ever produced.”
A message to Martin’s followers from his wife, Monica Wilson Martin, on Sunday read: “It is with great sorrow to share the news of the passing of my husband, Harold Lashaun Martin. The light in our family has been dim since April 17, 2023. Since then it has been our priority to surround him in love, support, and prayer and the best medical care that could be provided. At this point, God has spoken, and we must accept His Will. Thank you to our family and friends who continue to surround us with unwavering love. We kindly ask for your prayers as we navigate this heartbreaking loss being felt in our home, throughout DFW, and ultimately around the world.”
Martin served as minister of worship and music and the band leader for Sunday services at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Oak Cliff, one of the largest churches in the country, when he was not out on tour.
Martin was still a student at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Texas when he joined up with the gospel great Franklin as a member of the group God’s Property.
Badu and many of her musicians came up with Martin in school. “When I started working with Erykah, she had already put out ‘Baduizm’,” he recalled in the Forbes interview. “Myself, Braylon Lacy, Eugene Young, and Raphael Iglehart all joined the band at the same time. It was cool because I was still a college student, going back and forth to school and recording sessions. Erykah Badu is and always will be, especially in my eyes, a mega-star. She’s always had that thing about her. But by the same token, she’s probably one of the coolest, most down-to-earth individuals I’ve ever met. So the sessions were a trade-off for me because I knew the star, but I was getting to know the real person, Erica Wright.
“Then a year or so later,” he continued, “[the single] ‘Bag Lady’ came out. From a music business standpoint, that was a trip, because I was 20 years old, and I hadn’t ever had a chance to be a part of something so huge on that side of the spectrum. Now, God’s Property was a huge success, especially in the gospel world. It went on to sell two or three million records. I was part of the group, but I was just a sideman. But on Erykah’s album, I was able to write and produce, so the business changed. It taught me a lot.
His interests spread across many genres, as he was also the founder of the Go-Go Band, where he expressed his love for Washington, D.C.’s go-go music scene.
He found commonality in some of the different artists he played with. “What’s funny between Kirk Franklin and Erykah Badu and Chaka is that the audiences are actually the same,” he told Forbes. “What I mean by that is, a lot of people who love gospel music also listen to Chaka and Erykah. So that part is cool. It makes everything relatable. But there is a difference in the outcome, if you will. With Chaka, it’s all about having a good time. Erykah always wants to leave you feeling empowered, that’s her thing. Again, it’s the whole arts magnet [school] idea: ‘Go, be, do.’ Go anywhere you want, be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do. Whereas Kirk’s thrust is and always will be Jesus. It ends up being power in a spiritual way, in that Christian capacity. Those three outcomes are the differences, but the body of it is all the same.”
His solo albums included “Focus” and “7 Summers,” and he participated in the trio project “Three-O” with Matthew Ramsey and Mike “Blaque Dynamite” MItchell.
“One of the things that I still have a desire to do is, I want to be able to help further develop the Dallas music scene on a global scale,” he told Forbes. “There’s so many talented people in Dallas, Texas. A lot of times, because we’re from Dallas, we do get overlooked. But there’s so many super-dope people.”