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D\u2019Wayne Wiggins, who brought his smooth baritone to millions of fans as a founding member and the lead singer of the R&B trio Tony! Toni! Ton\u00e9!, which had three platinum albums and a slew of hits in the 1980s and \u201990s including \u201cFeels Good\u201d and \u201cThe Blues,\u201d died on Friday at his home in Oakland, Calif. He was 64.<\/p>\n
His family said in a statement on social media that the cause was bladder cancer.<\/p>\n
Mr. Wiggins was born and raised in Oakland and lived there most of his life, absorbing and blending the blues, funk and hip-hop sounds that he encountered on the city\u2019s streets and in its clubs, where his father, a blues guitarist, was a regular performer.<\/p>\n
He formed Tony! Toni! Ton\u00e9! in 1986 with his half brother, Charles Ray Wiggins (later known as Raphael Saadiq), who sang and played bass, and their cousin Timothy Christian Riley, who played drums.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The trio first found success performing around the San Francisco Bay Area, but they did not release their first album, \u201cWho?,\u201d until 1988. It was an immediate hit: Their debut single, \u201cLittle Walter,\u201d reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart; three more singles from the album reached the Top 10; and the album was certified gold.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d leaned into the traditional blues sound that the trio had grown up with, but their next three albums ventured into new territory, incorporating hip-hop, upbeat soul and dance-pop \u2014 a blend that came to be known as New Jack Swing.<\/p>\n
Their sophomore effort, \u201cThe Revival\u201d (1990), included their best-known hit, the radio-friendly \u201cFeels Good,\u201d which topped the Billboard R&B chart and reached No. 9 on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Though Mr. Wiggins bristled at the suggestion, critics often labeled the trio \u201ctraditional\u201d because of their use of guitars and organs and their deployment of blues and soul arrangements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
As he pointed out, they also incorporated turntables, flashy clothes and ecstatic onstage dancing \u2014 even, in their spry youth, cartwheels and splits.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of writers and very seasoned musicians stay stuck in their zone and don\u2019t want to branch out and don\u2019t want to accept when it\u2019s new,\u201d Mr. Wiggins said in a 2017 interview with The Chicago Tribune. \u201cI like pulling it into the fold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dwayne Patrice Wiggins was born on Feb. 14, 1961, in Oakland to Charlie and Mary (Brown) Wiggins. It was, he later recalled, an excellent place for a budding musician to grow up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n