Soul-singer Brenton Wood – who is best known for The Oogum Boogum Song – has passed away at 83.

The hitmaker passed away surrounded by his friends and family on Friday at his home in Moreno Valley, California .

The musician’s manager Manny Gallegos confirmed the news to TMZ on Friday.

However, no cause of death has been revealed as of yet.

Born Alfred Jesse Smith, the performer established himself in the soul music scene by infusing R&B and pop elements into his music, adopting the stage name Brenton Wood.

During the 1960s and 70s, he experienced the peak of his career with hit songs like Gimme Little Sign, Baby You Got It, and The Oogum Boogum Song in 1967, solidifying his place in music history.

Soul-singer Brenton Wood – who is best known for The Oogum Boogum Song – has passed away at 83

Wood was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on July 26, 1941.

However, the artist moved to the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles when he was a child along with his family.

Later, he moved to Compton, California, where he joined the Compton High School track team and excelled in athletics, earning recognition and awards for his achievements on the field.

His music career then began to take shape when he enrolled in East Los Angeles College where he took the stage name Brenton Wood.

Inspired by Jesse Belvin and Sam Cooke, he began working on his songwriting skills and became a competent pianist.

His music career did not exactly get off to a roaring start as he failed to chart with his early singles with Brent Record and Wand Records.

However the novelty song The Oogum Boogum Song reached No. 19 on the US Billboard R&B chart in addition to charting No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1967.

Then Wood’s biggest commercial success came months later as Gimme Little Sign reached No. 9 on the pop chart, No. 19 on the R&B charts, No. 2 on the KHJ, and No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart.

The hitmaker passed away surrounded by his friends and family on Friday at his home in Moreno Valley, California 

The musician’s manager Manny Gallegos confirmed the news to TMZ on Friday, however, no cause of death has been revealed as of yet; Wood is seen in Albuquerque, New Mexico in January 2010

The performer was born Alfred Jesse Smith as he made a career in the soul scene as he put his on twist on the genre by blending R&B and pop under the stage name Brenton Wood; he is seen performing in 1967

It also sold over one million copies in addition to being awarded a gold disc. 

Then his song Baby You Got It went on to peak at No. 34 on the Hot 100 during the last week of 1967.

In this era his backing band was the LA-based Kent And The Candidates which was led by famed drummer Kent Sprague.

Wood showed off his entrepreneurial side in 1972 when he formed his own record label and released, co-produced, and even co-wrote Funk Soul classic  Sticky Boom Boom [Too Cold] Part I and II.

His heyday was in the 1960s and 70s where he enjoyed the success of a few hit 1967 songs including Gimme Little Sign, Baby You Got It, and the aforementioned The Oogum Boogum Song; he is pictured in 1977

More recently Wood (seen in Ontario, California in September 2021) was forced to pause his farewell tour in May 2024

Wood’s biggest commercial success came in 1967 as Gimme Little Sign reached No. 9 on the pop chart, No. 19 on the R&B charts, No. 2 on the KHJ, and No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart; he is pictured April 1977

He worked on the project with collaborators George Semper and Al McKay of Earth, Wind & Fire fame.

The talented musician released a total of nine studio albums throughout his illustrious career. 

More recently Wood was forced to pause his farewell tour in May 2024.