Malcolm-Jamal Warner Passes
Writer, poet, actor, and musician.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner was laid to rest in an emotional and deeply moving ceremony in Los Angeles on July 23, 2025.
Warner, who was 54 years old, drowned while swimming in Costa Rica on July 20, 2025. The serious and passionate bassist left a real mark on jazz, R&B, and spoken word music.
Many fans don’t know that Malcolm Jamal Warner, the actor known to millions of television viewers across America for his famed acting career—such as his breakthrough role as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show or, more recently, as Dr. AJ Austin in FOX’s medical drama The Resident—is also a Grammy award-winning bass player and spoken word poet with his own jazz-funk band, “Miles Long.”
Malcolm-Jamal Warner with Miles Long feat Saycon Senblogh, “Joy & Pain”
Warner released four critically acclaimed albums that combine spoken word, jazz, soul, and funk music: Miles Long Mix Tape, Love and Other Social Issues, Selfless, and his most recent album, Hiding in Plain View, which earned him a 2023 Grammy nomination for “Best Spoken Word Album.”
In 2015, Warner won his first Grammy Award for “Best Traditional R&B Performance as a Featured Performer” on Robert Glasper’s version of the Stevie Wonder classic “Jesus Children of America,” also featuring Lalah Hathaway.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s “Art in Motion”
Writer, poet, actor and musician Malcolm-Jamal Warner performs his original poem titled “Art In Motion” as part of the Minnesota Orchestra’s 2023 Juneteenth Celebration concert.
