Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

Former Parliament-Funkadelic singer Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins has died on the age of 81. The information was confirmed by former bandmates Bootsy Collins and George Clinton.

“Prayers going out to Clarence ‘Fuzzy’ Haskins’ household and mates,” Collins tweeted. “We misplaced his frequency right this moment… We are going to miss u my good friend, bandmate and soul brother! Thank u for ur steering in my pup years.”

Haskins was an early member of Clinton’s doo-wop-inspired group the Parliaments, turning into an integral a part of the band when it turned Parliament and once more when Clinton fashioned the extra funk-focused Funkadelic. Haskins’ departure coincided with the start of a solo profession for him. He launched A Complete Nother Factor in 1976 on Detroit’s Westbound label with various P-Funk members as backing musicians. He adopted two years later with Radio Energetic. Each of these initiatives turned celebrated cult classics within the historical past of funk music.

Haskins, who’s credited with writing various basic Funkadelic tracks together with “I Get a Factor” and “I Wanna Know if It’s Good to You,” finally turned a church preacher, returning to music often to launch gospel music. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame in 1997 and obtained a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

In his 2017 memoir Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Laborious On You? Clinton wrote about Haskins, “I believed cigarettes had been cool as an emblem, somewhat harmful, somewhat grownup, and Parliament was an enormous model, so we turned the Parliaments. Personnel shifted round a bit in that first yr or two – some guys went out, different guys got here in – however fairly quickly we had a extra steady lineup: me, Calvin Simon, Grady Thomas, Fuzzy Haskins, and Ray Davis.

“Every of us had a particular model… I went for a Smokey Robinson factor, with possibly somewhat little bit of Pookie Hudson thrown in there. Fuzzy, who was second lead, was a soulful tenor with all of the bluesy inflections, like Wilson Pickett, actual tough. We began singing extra critically in and across the space, and that attracted the eye of among the extra established teams close by.”

As Final Basic Rock reported, Haskins additionally mirrored on the serendipity of his position in Parliament, saying, “The coincidence of us coming collectively, it was simply meant to be…It’s been quite a lot of pleasure, lot of enjoyable. We had setbacks, issues, however it was enjoyable. It was what we needed to do. Lots of people are like, ‘What do I do?’ Hold doing what you’re doing…Don’t attempt to do nothing like me. You do what you do and simply hold doing it. Hold asking questions…We dwell within the now.”

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