Blowfly Has Been Diagnosed With Terminal Cancer, Will Release Final LP Next Month

Blowfly — the masked R&B artist who SPIN once affectionally called “hip-hop’s weird, dirty uncle” — has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, according to a post on his Facebook page. The 79-year-old, whose real name is Clarence Reid, is reportedly suffering from multiple organ failure, and has entered hospice care. “Blowfly has gifted us a final album, entitled 77 Rusty Trombones, which comes out in February,” the Facebook post written by his frequent collaborator Tom Bowker reads. “It is easily his best album since the early 80s, and a fitting epitaph for one of the great performers of all time.” Read more about Blowfly in SPIN’s 2011 story about the man.