The legendary Bootsy Collins is arguably one of the most important, preeminent and influential bassists of the last 50 years. Collins first came to prominence for being a member of The Pacemakers, James Brown‘s backing band after The J.B.’s. (The story behind that is fascinatingly wild and ugly, and Collins talks about it in 2014’s Mr Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown.) Although he wound up playing with Brown for only about 11 months, Collins recorded some of the soul legend’s funkiest and meanest work of his extensive catalog.
In 1972, he joined Parliament Funkadelic — and the rest, as we all know is history.
Sadly, we live in a morally bankrupt, fucked up world that’s insane and desperately urgent. If you need a bit of joy in your life — well, today is Boosty Collins’ 72nd birthday. Play some Parliament Funkadelic. Play some of Collins’ solo work and celebrate a man, who’s only brought joy to our lives.
Happy birthday, Bootsy! May there many, many, many more!
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