Hub (bassist)

Leonard "Hub" Hubbard is a former band member of The Roots and played bass^[1] for the Philadelphia outfit from 1992 to 2007. He played on all of their records until his departure from the group, including 1999's Things Fall Apart and 2004's The Tipping Point. He is known for always having a chew stick in his mouth, both on and off the stage. Hubbard studied at Settlement Music School during his youth in Philadelphia, then went on to study classical upright bass at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[2]

Hub played his last show with The Roots on August 31, 2007.

Reunion

Hubbard was invited to the Roots Picnic concert that was held in Philadelphia on June 7, 2008. To his surprise, he was asked to play and borrowed a bass from The Dap Kings. The Roots bassist at that time, Owen Biddle, stepped aside as Black Thought welcomed back Hubbard. The band played "Mellow My Man" with Hubbard before stepping back to watch him solo. Following the solo, Hubbard shook hands with everyone and watched from sidestage for the rest of the show.

References

1. Bush, John. "The Roots". Allmusic. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
2. Archived October 20, 2006 at the Wayback Machine