Humble and generous, Roscoe Gorham stood out in the music business, which has its share of tough, hardscrabble characters. He ran Roscoe’s Lounge, a popular Roxbury club where future R&B group New Edition played its first gig and members of New Kids on the Block performed under his watchful eye.

“Roscoe was supportive of everyone,” said the musician Maurice Starr, who produced New Edition and New Kids on the Block. “I never met another guy like him in the music business.”