Roderick “Pooh” Clark, of the Texas R&B group Hi-Five, died at age 49 on Sunday (April 18). Though no cause of death was announced at press time, in a post on the group’s official Instagram, they wrote, “OUR BROTHER OG RODERICK POOH CLARK,” followed by a string of flower, heart, praying hands and crying emoji.
Clark was best known as one of the founding members of the 1990s Waco, Texas vocal group, who scored a No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991 with “I Like the Way (The Kissing Game).” He performed in the band alongside late member Tony Thompson, Marcus Sanders, Russell Neal and Toriano Easley. Hi-Five’s Teddy Riley-produced eponymous debut was released by Jive Records in 1990 and including top 10 R&B singles “I Just Can’t Handle It” and “I Can’t Wait Another Minute.”
Shortly after the release of their second album, 1992’s Keep It Goin’ On, Clark was paralyzed from the chest down after a 1993 car accident on the way to a radio appearance by Hi-Five. A third album, Faithful, dropped later that year, but it would be more than 12 years before they released a follow-up, 2005’s The Return.
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Clark was honored by former bandmate Marcus Sanders, who posted a number of pictures of the singer along with a video of Clark laying in bed clowning around, while their former musical director, Martinez Little wrote, “I am saddened to find out that Roderick ‘Pooh’ Clark another member of the famed singing group ‘Hi5’ passed away on Easter Sunday,” he said of the singer who was born on Feb. 27, 1973. “Pooh was the most athletic of them all. In basketball he could stand right under the basket and jump straight up and dunk the ball. Our play fights and Super Soaker battles were epic. We also used to battle each other hard on the Bball court in most cities. I still miss the fun times touring with my little brothers as Musical Director. My condolences to Hi5 and his family. R.I.P. Pooh.”
In prayer hand-embellished comments on the Insta post, Clark was remembered by many of his musical contemporaries and other artists, including Anthony Hamilton, DJ Spinderella, Silk, H-Town and Trina Braxton, among others. Another of the group’s founding members, Thompson, died at 31 in June 2007 of an apparent drug overdose.
See the group’s tribute below.