KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Long-time Kansas City-area entertainer Ronnie McFadden died Monday, his brother Lonnie confirmed Tuesday.
Lonnie said he and his brother had completed a show Monday afternoon at the Loews Hotel in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, when his brother became ill and collapsed.
“It’s a huge loss. I lost my best friend," His brother Lonnie said. "He was my business partner, but he was my best friend.”
Lonnie, who was a year older than Ronnie, credited his brother with showing him how to incorporate jazz styles into their routines.
“He was such a good choreographer,” Lonnie told KSHB 41 Tuesday from Lonnie’s Reno Club in the basement of the Ambassador Hotel in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. “People always talk about our rendition of Mr. Bojangles - he choreographed that.”
The brothers performed their tap-dancing routines across Kansas City and the country for many years, with their father teaching them as kids.
"My father taught us how to tap dance," he said.
The pair formed The McFadden Brothers in 1983, a routine they maintained for several years.
Funeral service information is pending.
—
