Artist, activist, philanthropist and community leader Daniel “Danny” Simmons has died at 72. Born in Hollis, Queens in 1953, Simmons was the older brother of hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons and rapper Joseph Simmons, known as Rev. Run in the rap trio Run DMC.

Simmons co-founded Rush Arts gallery with his brothers in 1995 and established Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn. He moved to Philadelphia in 2015 where he founded another Rush Arts. Together with Russell, he also created the HBO show Def Poetry Jam, which ran from 2002 to 2007, and a Broadway production that won a Tony Award for best special theatrical event.

Simmons described his artistic style as Neo-African Abstract Expressionism. His work is now in the collections of institutions such as Chase Manhattan Bank, the United Nations, New York's Schomburg Center for Black Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution’s African American Museum and Anacostia Community Museum.

His literary works include novels and poetry collections, with his 2004 novel Three Days As The Crow Flies, a fond tribute to the naughty fun of the good old days, and his 2007 collection I Dreamed My People Were Calling But I Couldn't Find My Way Home.

In a 2017 interview with Griot, Simmons expressed his deep faith in art, saying, “Art saves lives. It’s that simple.”