did you know?

• George Clinton is a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer.

• He began experimenting with electronic dance music in the 60’s.

• His Parliament-Funkadelic collective, which was mostly recorded under each band name, developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on science fiction, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor.

• He is held as one of the greatest pioneers of funk music, accompanying James Brown Sly Stone.

• 1997 was the year he and 15 members of the Parliament-Funkadelic got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

• In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.

• A single classic Funkadelic guitar solo on "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" wasn't done by the band's Eddie Hazel it was a strung-out white kid that wandered into their LA studio. The kid offered to do it for $25, and Clinton said ok. Clinton describes him playing like he was possessed and played the whole track. He paid him $50 but never acquired his name for credit.

• His start was leading a doo-wop group called the Parliaments; he also owned a hair salon at the time.

• One day two nervous kids walked into his salon with $1.2 million in fake 20 dollar bills he bought for $2000. He used the money to refurnish the salon and pay for recording time in the studio. He told the musicians it was counterfeit, but instead of paying them $200, he would pay them $1000, the musicians didn't mind.

• On an early Parliament tour, they decided to take a shortcut to Ohio. They ran a roadblock and, after a mile, ended up in a small town with "zombies" and were super scared. It turns out they accidentally stumbled upon the set of George Romero's classic horror movie Night of the Living Dead.

• 1982's album "Computer Games" was the beginning of his solo career and influenced the 1990's hip hop and G-Funk.

• Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic dominated music during the 1970s, with over 40 R&B hits singles (including three no. 1's) and three platinum albums.

• Clinton produced the Red Hot Chili Peppers 1985 album Freaky Styley. He even wrote the vocals and lyrics to the title track, originally intended to be an instrumental piece.