Go-go legend Chuck Brown has died, his daughter has confirmed to Washington City Paper. Brown was hospitalized earlier this spring and diagnosed with pneumonia.

With songs like “Go-Go Swing,” “We Need Some Money,” and especially “Bustin’ Loose”—which sat atop Billboard’s R&B charts for four weeks in 1979—Brown and his band the Soul Searchers laid the groundwork for D.C.’s homegrown sound. He inspired several generations of bands, from Rare Essence and E.U. and Trouble Funk to the Junk Yard Band to young practitioners like TCB and XIB, in whose hands go-go remains a vibrant genre. He was for years D.C.’s largest-looming living legend, a figure who made opinion fact: He gave Washington its moves. He was 75.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery