Spike Lee’s dad, Bill Lee, dies at 94

Bill Lee died Wednesday at his home in Brooklyn, said Theo Dumont, a publicist for Spike Lee.

May 24, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Lee, a well-regarded jazz musician who accompanied such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and Harry Belafonte as well as scoring four of his son Spike’s early films, including the hit “Do the Right Thing” and two songs for “Jungle Fever,” has died. He was 94.

Lee died Wednesday at his home in Brooklyn, said Theo Dumont, a publicist for Spike Lee. The younger Lee posted several photos of his father on his Instagram page announcing the death.

Lee was a session bassist who has played on albums by Odetta, Woody Guthrie, Cat Stevens, Gordon Lightfoot, John Lee Hooker and Peter, Paul and Mary, among many others. He can be heard on Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and Lightfoot’s “Oh, Linda.” He played on Aretha Franklin’s Columbia album debut in 1960, “Aretha.”

FILE – Director Spike Lee, right, and his with sister, screenwriter Joie Lee, left, appear with their father Bill Lee at a screening of “Do The Right Thing” in New York on June 29, 2014. Bill Lee, a well-regarded jazz musician who accompanied such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and Harry Belafonte as well as scoring four of his son Spike’s early films, died Wednesday, May 24, 2023, according to Theo Dumont, a publicist for Spike Lee. He was 94. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)

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Lee wrote the soundtracks to Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing” and “Mo’ Better Blues.” Bill Lee also appeared in “Do the Right Thing.” Terence Blanchard took over the role starting with “Jungle Fever.”

Bill Lee and Spike Lee were estranged after a falling out in the 1990s that the father attributed to his remarriage to Susan Kaplan.

In addition to Kaplan and Spike Lee, the elder Lee is survived by his sons, David, Cinque and Arnold; a daughter Joie; a brother, A. Clifton Lee; and two grandchildren.

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