The next local icon to be honored in the “Hometown Heroes” series is hip-hop artist Static Major. The dedication ceremony for the large format banner is Friday, May 24. The location of the banner is the Roots 101 African American Museum, and the event will take place in the parking lot behind the museum, at 1st and Witherspoon streets.
Stephen Ellis Garrett Jr. (November 11, 1974 – February 25, 2008) was known as Static and then as Static Major. A Louisville native, Static Major was a singer, songwriter, rapper, and music producer. He is most widely known for his guest appearance on Lil Wayne’s song “Lollipop,” which was released only 17 days after Static Major’s death. “Lollipop” reached the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks. The song eventually earned diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling more than ten million units and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song in 2009.
Static Major died at age 33 at Baptist Hospital East in Louisville. The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office reported that after going into respiratory arrest, he bled to death after the removal of a catheter that had been improperly inserted into his neck. His wife Avonti Garrett filed a medical negligence lawsuit against hospital executives, which named Dr. Dean J. Wickel as the physician who performed the surgery. The nurse who removed the catheter said in a deposition that the tube had been inserted in the wrong location, an error known to cause to excessive bleeding or lung puncture.
Static Major’s niece Alexis Garrett told WHAS11 that the installation of the “Hometown Heroes” banner is long overdue. “It should have been up a long time ago, but that’s neither here nor there,’ she said. “To the world he’s Static Major, but to us, he’s Uncle Steve, daddy’s son – so just to see him be appreciated in the city he loved and was born in is such a blessing.”
Roots 101 African American Museum
124 N. 1st St.
Friday, May 24
1:00 p.m.
This article appears in May 22 – Jun 4, 2024.
