Bernie Worrell

George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and a touring member of Talking Heads in the 1980s. He also worked with such producers and musicians as Keith Richards, Yoko Ono, Bill Laswell, Mos Def, Sly and Robbie, Fela Kuti, and Jack Bruce. The New York Times journalist Jon Pareles described Worrell as "the kind of sideman who is as influential as some bandleaders" and stated that he "indelibly changed the sound of funk and hip-hop."

Worrell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic. He also appeared with Talking Heads when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Worrell was the uncle of rapper and actor Chino XL.

George Bernard Worrell, Jr. was born on April 19, 1944, in Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, where his family moved when he was eight. His father was a truck driver and his mother sang in church choirs. He was a musical prodigy; by age 3 he was taking piano lessons, at the age of 8 he wrote his first concerto, and when he was 10 years old he performed with members of the Washington Symphony of Washington, Pennsylvania. He studied at the Juilliard School in New York City and graduated from Boston's New England Conservatory of Music in 1967. The school would award him an honorary Doctor of Music degree in May 2016. As a college student, Worrell played organ with an Episcopal church, accompanied a Jewish men's choir, and backed local group Chubby & The Turnpikes (which eventually evolved into Tavares).

When Worrell first met George Clinton, Worrell was the musical director for the R&B singer Maxine Brown. At that time, Clinton, who was also a native of Plainfield, led the Parliaments, a doo-wop group based out of a local barber shop where he worked. The Parliaments, and their backing band Funkadelic, then moved to Detroit and became two intertwined acts known collectively as Parliament-Funkadelic or P-Funk. Worrell moved to Detroit after being recruited by Clinton to serve as their keyboardist, arranger, and bandleader. He officially joined the band after appearing on their 1970 debut album Funkadelic.

Worrell and Clinton co-wrote numerous P-Funk songs, including the funk anthem "Flash Light", which Rolling Stone ranked as No. 25 on the 200 Best Dance Songs of All Time.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.