Hollywood (Africa)George Clinton

George Clinton

Perhaps no artist has developed the funk genre as much as George Clinton, the leader of influential bands such as Parliament and Funkadelic, as well as the mastermind behind enduring songs like “Flash Light” and “One Nation Under a Groove.”

Born George Edward Clinton on July 22, 1941, in Kannapolis, North Carolina, Clinton first formed the doo-wop group The Parliaments in 1955, and eventually scored a minor hit with the 1967 single, “I Wanna (Testify).” However, by the 1970s, the group had formed into a collective that found success under the names of Parliament and Funkadelic.

Clinton’s earliest albums for the collective included Funkadelic’s eponymous debut and Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow, as well as Parliament’s Osmium. However, it was Maggot Brain that first established the collective as a force to be reckoned with, made evident through Clinton’s trippy musical vision.