NEW YORK — Louis Johnson, a bassist who had a string of funk hits with the Brothers Johnson and worked as a session musician for Quincy Jones, notably on the Michael Jackson albums “Off the Wall” and “Thriller,” was found dead on May 21 at his home in Las Vegas. He was 60. His death was confirmed by Jeff Mullen, the Brothers Johnson’s manager, who said the cause had not been determined.
Mr. Johnson, who also sang, and his brother George, who played guitar and sang, began working with Jones in the mid-1970s. Jones mentored the brothers, and they collaborated for many years.
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“I considered Louis a core member of my production team,” Jones wrote in a tribute.
Nicknamed Thunder Thumbs (George was known as Lightning Licks), Mr. Johnson created a driving sound with a percussive, string-slapping technique. He was an early popularizer of the electric slap-bass style in funk.
The Brothers Johnson had a number of platinum albums in the 1970s and ’80s. Their singles “I’ll Be Good to You,” “Stomp!” and “Strawberry Letter 23” all reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and made the pop Top 10.
Mr. Johnson’s bass playing was prominent on Michael Jackson’s hits “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,’ ” and “Billie Jean.” He was on the all-star charity single “We Are the World” in 1985, and he also performed or recorded with Donna Summer, Herbie Hancock, John Mellencamp, Paul McCartney, and many others.
Louis Johnson was born in Los Angeles. As teenagers he and his two older brothers, George and Tommy, formed a group called the Johnson Three Plus One with a cousin, Alex Weir. George Johnson said in 2012 that the group had played material from bands as varied as Led Zeppelin and Sly and the Family Stone, and, because they were all in their teens, had “to draw mustaches on to actually play in the club.”
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George Johnson joined the singer and keyboardist Billy Preston in the early 1970s, and Louis joined after Preston’s bassist quit. During their time with Preston they opened for bands like Chicago, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. The brothers also worked with Bobby Womack before Jones used them on his albums “Body Heat” and “Mellow Madness.”
The Brothers Johnson’s first album, “Look Out for #1,” was released in 1976 and sold more than a million copies.