Roger Troutman

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Roger Troutman
Troutman in 1981
Background information
Also known as	Roger
Born	(1951-11-29)November 29, 1951[1] Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.
Died	April 25, 1999(1999-04-25) (aged 47)[1] Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Funk
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals talk box guitar keyboards bass guitar harmonica vibraphone
Years active	1975–1999
Labels	Warner Bros. Reprise

Roger Troutman (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999)^[1][2] was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and influenced West Coast hip hop due to the scene's heavy sampling of his music.

Troutman frequently used the talk box, a device that is connected to an instrument (frequently a keyboard, but most commonly a guitar) to create different vocal effects. Troutman used a custom-made talkbox—the Electro Harmonix "Golden Throat"—through a Moog Minimoog and later in his career a Yamaha DX100 FM synthesizer.

As both band leader of Zapp and in his subsequent solo releases, he scored a bevy of funk and R&B hits throughout the 1980s and regularly collaborated with hip hop artists in the 1990s.