A LIFE SPENT FUNKIN'

From his early ’70s run with James Brown’s original J.B.’s to his cosmic chemistry with George Clinton in Parliament-Funkadelic and his superstar bandleader era with Bootsy’s Rubber Band, the Cincinnati, Ohio-bred bassist has brought the bottom to so many of the funkiest recordings ever made. 

Nearly a half-century after Mothership Connection, Bootsy’s influence still courses through contemporary music, from Childish Gambino’s “Redbone,” a straight-up homage to the 1976 Bootsy’s Rubber Band classic “I’d Rather Be With You,” to Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars’ Grammy-winning 2021 modern-funk opus An Evening with Silk Sonic, which featured Bootsy as its narrator and honorary guest host. He’s been the not-so-secret ingredient in so much West Coast hip-hop, from the samples driving classic tracks by Eazy-E (“We Want Eazy”) and 2Pac’s (“Str8 Ballin”) to the verbal panache and playful personas of Snoop Dogg and the late Shock G. He’s the blueprint for Flea, Thundercat, and every other outlandish, mononymous bass god that’s come up in his wake. 

When it comes to representing funk in the flesh, Bootsy’s personal style is truly one with The One. Like a character from a Dr. Seuss book come to life, his signature look—star shades, Mad Hatter-style top hats, heavyweight platform boots, and five-point, star-shaped “Space Bass” guitar—has made him an instantly recognizable icon of pop culture.