Soul singer and Maze founder Frankie Beverly dead at 77

Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Frankie Beverly, a native Philadelphian and founder of the band Maze, died Tuesday at age 77, his family announced on social media Wednesday without saying how or where he died.

""This period is one of healing, and your respect for our need for solitude is appreciated as we honor the memory of our beloved Howard Stanley Beverly, known to the world as Frankie Beverly," his family said .

"He lived his life with pure soul, as one would say, and for us no one did it better," his family added. "He lived for his music, family and friends."

The family also asked fans to: "Love one another as he would want that for all of us."

Beverly was born in 1946, attended Philadelphia's Germantown High School and enjoyed a career in music that spanned five decades.

He most recently lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and performed in Philadelphia in July with Maze while headlining two shows at the Dell Music Center in Strawberry Mansion.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts presented Beverly with a bouquet of roses during one show and called him "by far my favorite artist ever."

Beverly also had a street named after him earlier this year in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood, where he grew up.

Beverly founded the band Raw Soul in 1970 and later changed its name to Maze at the suggestion of Motown artist Marvin Gaye after the band relocated to San Francisco in 1971.

Gaye chose Maze to be among his opening acts during his 1971 tour.

The band also released its first album in 1977 titled, Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly .

Maze released nine studio LPs from 1977 to 1993, all of which ranked among the top 10 in the U.S. R&B album sales and earned Gold certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Seven of the studio LPs were recorded for the Capitol Records label and the last two for Warner Brothers.

Maze also released two live albums while recording for Capitol Records and seven compilation LPs for Capitol and The Right Stuff labels.

Two studio albums, 1985's Can't Stop the Love and 1989's Silky Soul , topped the R&B charts.

The band released several singles, two of which topped the U.S. R&B charts with Back in Stride in 1985 and Can't Get Over You in 1989.

Although the band never won a Grammy, Beverly said the most important thing to him is performing live.

"When you're cookin', it starts cookin'. It doesn't matter how many people are in the room," Beverly told NPR in 2005. "It's just a special thing. It's probably the most powerful form of art."

Beverly retired from music after doing a farewell tour with Maze called "I Wanna Thank You" and included guest appearances by El DeBarge and Chaka Khan .

Beverly said the band will continue without him as Maze Honoring Frankie Beverly.