George Clinton‘s influence and impact on modern music have been gargantuan and towering. Clinton’s presence and work has inspired and informed hip-hop, funk, dance music, soul and gospel. Without his work I doubt we might have acts like Fishbone, Living Colour, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many others. And I’m certain that the Black Rock Coalition and the Afropunk movement wouldn’t have existed.
I’ve grown up loving and knowing Clinton’s work with Parliament Funkadelic and as a solo artist, and if you’ve been around since at least the 60s, I bet you have too. I’ve been blessed to photograph him and Parliament Funkadelic a few times — once from the crowd, the other two times with photo passes:
Today, Mr. Clinton celebrates his 82nd birthday. So let’s celebrate the man and those songs we’ve all loved and danced to today, huh?
Happy birthday, Mr. Clinton! May there be many, many, many more!
