Legendary Producer Behind The Fugees’ ‘The Score’ Dies Suddenly: RIP to John Forté

Grammy-nominated musician and producer John Forté has died at age 50.

Forté, who is best known for his collaboration with The Fugees, was found dead on Monday at his home in Chilmark, a town on Martha’s Vineyard, according to MV Times.

Chilmark authorities told the outlet that a neighbor had discovered Forté alone on the kitchen floor and called the police at 2:25 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived on the scene, Forté was non-responsive, and he was pronounced dead at home. No foul play is suspected, but the state’s medical examiner is currently investigating Forté’s cause of death.

Born in Brooklyn on Jan. 30, 1975, Forté first discovered a love for music when he picked up the violin and enrolled in New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy. Forté would go on to attend New York University, but dropped out of his program to work for the underground hip-hop label Rawkus Records.

In the ’90s, Forté began collaborating with The Fugees after an introduction from Lauryn Hill, and he would go on to co-write and produce songs on the group’s iconic 1996 album The Score. That album earned Forté his first Grammy nomination at age 21, and he would go on to tour all over the world with the group.

Forté would go on to collaborate with Refugee Camp All-Stars and contribute to Wyclef Jean’s debut solo album, The Carnival, in 1997. The following year, Forté released his first solo album, titled Poly Sci, with Jean producing and featuring performances by Fat Joe, DMX, 20 Grand Pikasoe and Jeni Fujita.

Two years after the album’s release, Forté found himself in trouble with the law after being arrested at Newark International Airport with liquid cocaine. He was charged with possession and intent to distribute and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2001.

While awaiting trial, Forté continued making music, releasing his second album, I, John, the same year he was sentenced.

President George W. Bush commuted Forté’s sentence in 2008, and the musician would go on to become a prominent member of the arts scene on Martha’s Vineyard, where he lived with his wife, photographer Lara Fuller, and their two children.

 In 2021, he released his most recent album, Vessels, Angels & Ancestors. “Unlike past projects, I wasn’t burdened down by self-doubts like ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’” Forté told Billboard of the project that year. “Early on, I realized I had to get out of my own way and ride downstream with the experience.”