B. Smyth has died. He was 28.
The R&B singer's older brother Denzil confirmed the tragic news with a video posted on B.Smyth's Instagram page Thursday, saying the "Win Win" singer, whose real name was Brandon Smith, "passed away this morning from respiratory failure after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis."
"On behalf of my brother and my family we want to say thank you to all of you for all of your love & support throughout the years," Denzil wrote in the caption of the post. "We also want to say thank you for all of your prayers. #RIPBSMYTH Love you bro! 🙏🏾☁️"
In the video, he noted that his brother often talked about how he loved his fans and had been watching dance challenges for his latest released single "Twerkaholic, Pt.2" three weeks ago while he was in the intensive care unit at the hospital.
"All those new TikToks and Instagram reels made him really, really happy," Denzil said in the video. "He was able to have a smoother process… All the love and light you were sending on social media he really felt it and sunk into it."
He said his brother asked him to make the video to let his fans know he "appreciates all the things you guys do for him," and said that it was his fans that inspired him on his new projects with music or fashion.
Denzil said the family asks for privacy at this time. However, he said the family will update fans on funeral services and will consider live streaming his funeral for fans outside Florida.
B. Smyth gained prominence on YouTube covering songs like Rihanna's "Stay" and Miguel's "Quickie."
He eventually signed with Motown Records in 2012 and released his first single "Leggo" with 2 Chainz. He then went on to release an EP called The Florida Files in 2013 with the lead single "Win Win" with Future.
Smyth gained commercial success with his 2014 song "Twerkaholic," which garnered 17 million views on YouTube. Following another chain of solo releases, he put out a studio album called Thr3 in 2017.
Last year, he released an EP called It's Yours For the Summer and a follow-up single to his hit song "Twerkaholic" called "Twerkaholic, Pt.2" with RoJ.
