BATON ROUGE — Known as "Doc," Isaac Greggs was a spirited musician, band leader and legend.

Greggs was the architect of Southern University's famed Human Jukebox marching band. 

During one of his last interviews while fighting prostate cancer in 2003, Greggs described his love of music and the band.

"It has become a science to me, and I treat it like a science," Greggs, known as the Beethoven of college marching bands, said.

He led the Human Jukebox for 36 years until he retired in 2005.  His bands have played at six Super Bowls, four Sugar Bowls and three presidential inaugurations. 

Greggs not only directed student musicians. He also directed men aged 50 and older in their health, speaking out about his experience with prostate cancer after he was diagnosed in 1997, encouraging men to get screened to catch the disease early.

"Cancer's not something to play with. I encourage every man in that age group to go and get a check-up," he said.

Today, Southern's band hall bears his name, and all of the directors and instructors are his former students. 

Greggs died in 2014 at the age of 85, but the legacy lives on, including at the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, where his hat is on display.