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Gwendolyn “Blondy” Chisolm, the rapper and singer-songwriter who co-founded The Sequence, has died. ROLLING STONE has confirmed this. She was 66 years old.
Chisolm founded the hip-hop group in 1979 with Cheryl “The Pearl” Cook and Angie Stone and promptly scored a hit with “Funk You Up.” (Stone died in March 2025 at age 63 after a car accident.) As Billboard reports, Chisolm briefly suffered from an illness before her death on Monday, April 6.
“My sister gave a lot of herself to the music industry,” Chisolm’s sister Monica Scott said in a statement sent to the publication on behalf of the Chisolm and Scott families. “Everyone knows her famous lyrics and melodies, which continue to bring joy to millions of people. She was a creative force who touched countless hearts.”
Childhood and beginnings
Growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, Chisolm knew her future bandmates from an early age – all three attended CA Johnson High School and were cheerleaders there. As teenagers, this activity provided them with the very choruses that would become the foundation of their music. “’Funk You Up’ comes from a cheer call,” Chisolm told Rolling Stone in 2017. “’Funk You Up’ was [singt]: ‘We’re gonna blow you, right on out. We’re gonna blow you right on out.’” Chisolm also sang with Stone in the church choir.
The Sequence was the first female hip hop act signed to Sugar Hill Records and released three albums before the group disbanded in 1985. “Funk You Up” was written by, among others, Dr. Dre in “Keep Their Heads Ringin'” interpolates and influences Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”
The three found their way to the label after gaining access to the backstage of a Sugarhill Gang concert. Chisolm got the tickets from her boss at the supermarket where she worked – but to go she had to override her mother’s express wishes. “[Meine Mutter] said, ‘If you walk out that door now, you’ll never come back,'” she said. “I never came back.” And all of this even though the tickets weren’t even waiting for them at the box office as promised.
The breakthrough
Luckily, Stone knew exactly what to say to make himself heard. “We didn’t even know who he was or where he was taking us. We just knew: We’re getting in,” Chisolm said. “And when he talked to us, we said, ‘Oh yeah, and by the way – we can sing and rap better than the Sugarhill Gang.'” Her confidence carried her far.
From then on, Chisolm no longer had to dream about her old dream of joining the Army and becoming a drill sergeant. She toured, recorded albums and traveled alongside the Sugarhill Gang. The hip-hop revolution was blossoming across America, and they were pioneers in the middle of it. But it wasn’t all gold. Chisolm and her bandmates have spoken openly in the past about being excluded from the financial success of their music. “It hurts to know that there you are, toiling away, barely able to feed yourself, barely able to pay your bills, and life just goes on while others make millions from something you created,” she said. “It’s a damn painful feeling.”
The Sequence’s legacy lives on in their hits – from “Funk You Up” to “Funky Sound (Tear the Roof Off)” to “I Don’t Need Your Love (Part One)”. Chisolm will be honored in a private setting at a later date.
Farewell and legacy
“We’re at rock bottom right now,” Scott told Billboard. “But we find comfort in knowing that her beautiful spirit lives on through the songs she shared with the world. We hope the world will remember her as a passionate artist and voice of a generation. You can honor her memory by turning up her music.”
