{{Short description|American musician (1959–2021)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}} '''Leonard Nelson "Hub" Hubbard''' (February 12, 1959 – December 16, 2021) was an American musician best known as the electric bass guitarist for The Roots,<ref name="Bush">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-roots-p168531/biography|title=The Roots|last=Bush|first=John|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=September 17, 2011|archive-date=October 3, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003180442/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-roots-p168531/biography|url-status=live}}</ref> a Philadelphia band, from 1994 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''.

==Biography== Hubbard, who was of African American heritage, was born on February 12, 1959.<ref>{{cite web |title=On behalf of Leonard "Hub" Hubbard's loving wife Stephanie and family, we would like to wish him a happy heavenly birthday. Today, the former Roots crew founding member and bassist would have turned 65. |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/C3QKntBLCeN/ |website=That's My World on Instagram |access-date=4 September 2024 |date=12 February 2024}}</ref> He was known for always having a chew stick in his mouth, on and off the stage. He studied at Settlement Music School during his youth in Philadelphia, and then studied classical upright bass at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<ref>[http://www.bassplayer.com/story.asp?storyCode=3952] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020140637/http://www.bassplayer.com/story.asp?storyCode=3952|date=October 20, 2006}}</ref>

He played his last show with The Roots on June 7, 2008, at the first annual Roots Picnic.

===Illness and death=== A resident of West Philadelphia, Hubbard was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2007. He died from the disease at Lankenau Medical Center in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, on December 16, 2021, at the age of 62.<ref>{{cite news |last1=DeLuca |first1=Dan |title=Leonard Hubbard, former bass player with The Roots, dies |url=https://www.inquirer.com/news/leonard-hubbard-the-roots-dead-bass-player-philadelphia-20211216.html |access-date=December 16, 2021 |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=December 16, 2021}}</ref> He was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Leonard Nelson Hubbard |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/leonard-nelson-hubbard?id=6AddV9wM |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=14 December 2024 |archive-date=June 14, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250614140000/https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/leonard-nelson-hubbard?id=6AddV9wM |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{discogs artist|HUB (2)}} * {{imdb name|0399199}}

{{The Roots}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hub}} Category:1959 births Category:2021 deaths Category:20th-century American bass guitarists Category:21st-century American bass guitarists Category:American male bass guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Category:Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni Category:Deaths from multiple myeloma in Pennsylvania Category:Guitarists from Philadelphia Category:The Roots members Category:African-American male musicians