Biography
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American funk music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the individual bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive funk style drew on psychedelic culture, outlandish fashion, science-fiction, and surreal humor;[1] it would have an influential effect on subsequent funk, post-punk, hip-hop, and post-disco artists of the 1980s and 1990s,[2] while their collective mythology would help pioneer Afrofuturism.[3]
The collective’s origins date back to the doo-wop group the Parliaments, formed by Clinton in the late 1950s in Plainfield, New Jersey. Under the influence of late-1960s artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, and Frank Zappa, Clinton later relocated to Detroit and began the sister groups Parliament and Funkadelic, with the former playing an eclectic and more commercial form of funk, and the latter incorporating more influence from psychedelic rock.[4] The groups released albums such as Maggot Brain (1971), Mothership Connection (1975), and One Nation Under a Groove (1978) to critical praise, and scored charting hits with singles such as “Give Up the Funk” (1976), “One Nation Under a Groove” (1978), “Flash Light” (1978), and “Atomic Dog” (1982). Overall, the collective achieved thirteen top ten hits in the American R&B music charts between 1967 and 1983, including six number one hits.
The name “Parliament-Funkadelic” became the catch-all term for the dozens of related musicians recording and touring different projects in Clinton’s orbit. Other prominent collective members have included Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Eddie Hazel, and Michael Hampton. By the early 1980s, Clinton and other members had begun solo careers, with Clinton also consolidating the collective’s multiple projects and touring under names such as “George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars.” Some former members of Parliament perform under the name “Original P“. Sixteen members of Parliament-Funkadelic were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2019, the group will be given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.
