On Feb. 25, the music industry lost one of its most successful R&B songwriters when Stephen Garrett, aka Static, aka Static/Major, died at age 33 of complications during a medical procedure.

Garrett was well-known as a member of Playa, an R&B trio of Louisville natives that scored a 1998 hit with the album "Cheers 2 U." But within the music industry, Garrett was known as the mastermind behind some of this generation's greatest songs.

He left behind family members and friends, as well as budding musicians who looked up to him and seasoned artists who credited him for much of their success. Here's how they remember Garrett.

Edith Raymond was Garrett's mother

There used to be a program called "Sing Ye" on WAVE-TV on Sunday mornings that featured local church choirs. He led a 25-voice choir on the show when he was 3 years old. The first song he sang was "Trouble in My Way." I remember he wore his little Easter suit. They had him on a stool and the choir was behind him. His voice was very vivid and clear. He was really shy. You really had to beg him to sing. I was the director of the choir at Joshua Tabernacle Baptist Church. I would have to pay him to do a solo for me. He just didn't want to do it. He would say, "No, Mama. I don't wanna sing."

Stacey Wade attended church with Garrett and later became his personal photographer

He didn't like to sing, so when he did it was like a treat because his voice was so unique. When he sang, it was angelic. You didn't want to miss that.

In middle and high school, however, Garrett was a competitive athlete and didn't show off his vocal skills to his classmates.

Tim Barnett, Garrett's longtime friend and former manager

No one really knew that he could sing like that. Not until our senior year of high school, when we had a talent show and he entered. We were, like, "Wow!"

After entering the University of Louisville in 1992, Garrett teamed up with Benjamin Bush, aka Digital Black, and Jawann Peacock, aka Smoke E. Digglera. They got a chance to perform for writer/producer Donald "DeVante Swing" DeGrate of the R&B group Jodeci. DeGrate was impressed and soon the group Playa was born.

Digital Black

DeVante loved the sound. He actually said that was the best group sound he had heard out of all the states he had been through, out of all the talent he had heard.

Tim Barnett

I would be, like, "Man, Jodeci is not getting ready to sign you." I was just teasing, but he said, "Watch, I'm getting ready to call DeVante." He called, and then yelled upstairs, "Pick up the (other) phone. It's ringing." I pick up the phone, and we're like kids in a candy store because this is Jodeci and it's surreal for us from Louisville to be calling Jodeci, as huge as they were then.

DeGrate signed Playa to a record deal and moved the trio to his home in Teaneck, N.J., to work on an album.

Digital Black

While we were there, we were hungry -- figuratively as well as literally speaking. But I don't look at it as I was in a bad situation. I was very happy to be out of Louisville pursuing my dreams. We all felt like we had so much to prove. I know Static's mom really wanted him to go to college, so it was hard for him to drop out of school. It was, like, if I go home, I got to hear "I told you so." That's what made us stick it out.

Edith Raymond

I wanted him to go to college and do the 8-to-5 thing like I do, but then I also had to realize that that opportunity doesn't come to everybody. He had some hard times when he first left Louisville. DeVante took care of their lodging and I guess he would buy food every now and then, but I know they were hungry. I would send money when I could.

Digital Black

We started to hone our writing skills because DeVante was busy working on (the platinum-selling) "The Show, The After Party, The Hotel" album, so a lot of times we weren't able to work with him. We ended up having to learn how to write and produce ourselves to get something done, which ended up being a blessing because we all tapped into our creative skills.

During that time, Garrett wrote the song "Pony" for R&B crooner Ginuwine. Released in 1996, it gave Garrett his first No. 1 hit and helped launch Ginuwine's career.

Ginuwine

I didn't really write like Static and Missy (Elliott, another Jodeci protégé). I only wrote when necessary. So once I got that beat, I called on Static and he grabbed it. He wrote some of the hook, and when I heard what he had written I said, "Oh my God!" I knew right off that that was going to be hit. I just knew that was something different. Once he finished the hook, we started writing line by line. We went back and forth, like it was a competition. Without "Pony," I honestly question where would I have been. I don't know really what I would have done without Static. He wrote "So Anxious" and he wrote "Same Ol' G." Those were all him. "So Anxious" was one of those songs I was really questioning. I said, "It's too slow. It's too different." But my manager was, like, "That's it. I'm telling you G., that's it." That's why Static's genius is so great. He was talented beyond his years."

Playa eventually parted ways with DeGrate and landed a deal with Def Jam Records. The album "Cheers 2 U" was released in 1998, and the title track was a Top-10 R&B hit.

Smoke E. Digglera

When we were performing, we always had parts of the show where we could come together and look each other in the face. That was a beautiful time. I don't like singing in the studio. I like singing on stage, when I can look over to my left and see Digital Black and look over to my right and see Static. Static had this swagger whenever he performed. His flavor, his swagger, his style -- it wasn't a created image. Everybody in the group was being themselves. All of us were straight Louisville.

Avonti Garrett met Stephen Garrett in 1998

We just happened to keep bumping into each other. We never would say anything. Finally, we were forced to meet by both of our friends. We exchanged numbers and from that day we were together. I don't know what was making me run from him. Maybe because I wasn't a groupie and I didn't want to be seen like a groupie. His status was scaring me. Once we talked, I realized how normal he was. He was normal, laid back. He wasn't Static. He was Stephen. We were married on Sept. 10, 1999.

B96 Jams radio personality Mark Gunn, a good friend of Garrett's

He's very much a normal, down-to-earth person who never got caught up in the trappings of his success. Yeah, he's got the nice house for his family, a little bit of jewelry, a couple of expensive cars. But underneath, here's this kid from Louisville with the same values that were instilled in him by his parents and by his church, and pretty much has the same circle of people around him that he's had all his life.

Dorian Washington was Garrett's manager

He would treat ordinary people like myself the same way that he would treat Puffy or Master P. He would never act like he was better than everybody else.

Tim Barnett

We would go in the studio at 6 p.m. and we might not leave until 8 a.m. the next morning, and that was regular for him. Even after Static was successful, he worked twice as hard.

Avonti Garrett

We had a studio in our basement and he would wake up out of his sleep and go to the studio. Sometimes he would dream songs.

Rudy Sandapa was one of Garrett's production partners

He would get a track and he would just play it over and over again and ideas would start popping in his head. He said he tries to listen to what the track "is telling him." He said, "The track's speaking to me and I'm trying to say what it's meant to say."

Tim Barnett

He worked with Dr. Dre, Aaliyah, Pretty Ricky, Sunshine Anderson, Jay-Z, David Banner, Nas, Ginuwine, Jamie Foxx, Destiny's Child, Lil Flip. We did a lot of projects. We also worked with Kanye West and Brandy. He worked with Puffy. It was surreal at times when I'm sitting there and Jay-Z is calling my phone and trying to get my childhood friend to write his record, or when Destiny's Child is calling us to write a record. In the studio, they were all in awe of him.

R&B artist Pleasure P., formerly of the group Pretty Ricky

I met Static when we were working on the first Pretty Ricky album. We all knew "Your Body" was a smash. We all knew "On the Hotline" was a smash. And the songs he wrote for my upcoming album, I know they're smashes. It was like he understood me as person. You could tell him a situation and he could just write. He got your vocabulary, the way you talk. He also taught me the game -- about publishing and the split you supposed to get for records, the financial part of the business.

Goodfella, a Louisville native and emerging hip-hop artist, saw Garrett as a "big brother"

One of the most valuable things he ever could have taught me was his work ethic. That man worked so hard. And he taught me how to pick my beats. He told me that was the most essential thing an artist could do. You have to pick the right beat. And he actually helped me to be a better father. He helped me stay away from a whole lot of stuff. He was like, "Man, you don't need to go there. Go ahead and stay home."

Garrett branched out, writing songs for pop stars like teen singer/actress Joanna "JoJo" Levesque.

Joanna Levesque

I first met Static almost six years ago, when I was 12 and working on my first album. We met in New York City at the studio. He is very laid back, but what I most remember about him musically was his intricate harmonies and I was such a fan of his vocal arrangements. I loved the way he wrote. I'm sure it was a challenge for him because he was really used to writing more sensual songs, but I was 12, so he was writing records for me and stepping outside of his box. He had a very unique way of putting a song together and I was really looking forward to working with him on my next album.

In June, rapper Lil Wayne released "Tha Carter III," an album that includes the song "Lollipop," which he co-wrote with Garrett. The song shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video for the song includes a posthumous appearance by Garrett.

Avonti Garrett

He was so close to where he was trying to be. He could almost taste it. He had his first taste (while making) the Lil' Wayne video. He called me almost every hour. He said, 'Baby, I killed it. I killed it, baby.' He would tell me about all the scenes. If he were alive, he would be eating all this up.

Darius "Deezle" Harrison co-produced "Lollipop"

Static brought it to us in a Lil Wayne session. I was telling Wayne, "That's my man. He's got 19 number ones. This dude is serious." Wayne took a liking to Static because he was so cool, so humble. Wayne cut a record for Static's album called "I Got My" and then Static played "Lollipop" for Wayne. He was like, "Cool, I'll do it." It was a collaborative effort, but Static has everybody in the country singing that hook. And who on earth doesn't want to be licked like a lollipop? I'm just sayin'.

Avonti Garrett

He didn't listen to R&B. He listened to gangsta, ghetto rap. I think that's how he was able to create his own style.

Mark Gunn

He's one of the few male writers that can actually do a song that women can totally relate to, but while he's talking about dealing with relationships there's always this underlying street sense to every record.

Darius Harrison

The stuff that he talks about is so simple because it's life. When you hear him come up with the hooks that he does, it has you sitting there like, "Man, why didn't I think of that?" His songs are the things that people talk about and the things people want to hear about.

Despite his behind-the-scenes success, Garrett wanted to get back into the spotlight. He was working on a solo album -- tentatively titled "Suppertime" -- and changed his stage name to Static/Major.

Stacey Wade

He wanted to come back into the light because that's where he started. This guy was a star.

Edith Raymond

He was opening for Dru Hill in Columbus, Ohio (back during the Playa days). I can remember seeing him leaving in the limo and the girls running up to the car getting autographs. I'm thinking, "They want my son's autograph!" It's just not a way a mom traditionally thinks of a son.

Rudy Sandapa

I think the new album is going to show where Static has come from. He's not just limited to the typical R&B style of music. He has a ballad called "For a Long Time" and it's classic-sounding, reminiscent of Keith Sweat, with an old-school kind of feel. He's got club tracks. He's got my all-time favorite song, "All the Way to Heaven," which has kind of a Prince feel.

Digital Black

I've heard a lot of people say they love him and I've seen a lot of signs of love, but if you really love him, when that album drops go get it and don't bootleg it. He never got the notoriety of the guys writing now. And I don't knock Ne-Yo, The Dream or Sean Garrett, but before all of them, there was a guy named Static.