Bernie Worrell

From Plainfield, New Jersey, Bernie Worrell entered the world of music as a classically trained pianist by the age of three. During his formative years he performed alongside symphonies and orchestras, and at eight he composed his own concerto. Exposure to radio gradually broadened his listening beyond classical repertoire, and once he reached college he began gigging with assorted bar bands, among them the Tavares, then operating under the name Chubby & the Turnpikes. In that same period he encountered George Clinton, who was serving as lead vocalist for the Motown-influenced Parliaments. After the Parliaments disbanded, Clinton relocated the ensemble to Detroit and reconstituted it as Parliament. He subsequently launched a parallel project, Funkadelic, whose roster drew from former Parliament personnel now performing under the new moniker because of contractual complications. Worrell entered Funkadelic’s lineup in 1970 on the album Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow. He remained a central figure in the P-Funk collective until the early 1980s. Thereafter he worked with Talking Heads in a session capacity, touring with the group throughout the decade and collaborating with David Byrne and the band until their dissolution in early 1992. Outside his own solo endeavors, he maintained ties with P-Funk alumni such as Bootsy Collins. His keyboard contributions to tracks including “Flashlight,” “(Not Just) Knee Deep,” and “Cosmic Slop” left a mark on subsequent R&B and soul performers as well as numerous rap acts that sampled his playing extensively. In June 2016, at age 72, Bernie Worrell succumbed to lung cancer at his residence in Everson, Washington.