William Bootsy Collins

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend Bootsy Collins is a musician, songwriter, and producer. He has lent his talents to James Brown, Parliament/Funkadelic, Bootsy's Rubber Band, and Deee-Lite, just to name a few. The best living bassist on Rolling Stone’s Best Bassists of All Time list, "Bootsy Collins — or “Bootzilla,” “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” or “The World’s Only Rhinestone Rock Star Doll, Baba,” depending on the song — redefined soul and funk bass playing in the Seventies, and, by proxy, rap and pop in the Eighties and Nineties,” writes the magazine. "You can hear his influence in practically every bass player to come since…”

Bootsy Collins’ influence on popular culture is inescapable. His image and sound are stitched into the fabric of modern music, be it R&B, funk, rock, electronic or hiphop (Prince, Dr. Dre, Thundercat, Janelle Monae, to name a few).

He’s transcended generations through mentoring and collaborations, including Childish Gambino’s “Red Bone,” a loving homage to Collins’ 70s smash, “I’d Rather Be with You.”

"Thank God for my dear brother, Bootsy Collins,” says Dr. Cornel West. "Artistic genius, spiritual giant, Grand Funk Master who reminds us of the Power of the One-- the FUN in the funk and the FUNK in the fun, to be powered for good...”