Bernie Worrell Dies at 72

Keyboardist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bernie Worrell died on Friday, June 24, at 72 years of age.

Worrell rose to prominence as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic (P-Funk) and the rock band Talking Heads. He studied at the Juilliard School, and graduated from New England Conservatory (NEC) in 1967.

In addition to his 1997 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, Worrell won an Independent Music Award for Best Funk/Fusion/Jam Song for his 2013 song “Get Your Hands Off.” He also contributed to the Red Hot Organization’s 1994 album Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, which was named a TIME magazine Album of the Year. Last month, along with Bernie Worrell, he received an honorary Doctorate of Music from NEC.

He released his last album, titled Retrospectives, in January of this year.

“This is a huge loss. The world of music will never be the same. Bernie’s influence and contribution — not just to Funk but also Rock and Hip Hop — will forever be felt. Bernie was a close and personal friend and this is a time of sadness for me personally. P-Funk stands with his family and fans alike in mourning this loss,” P-Funk Leader & Founder George Clintontold Billboard in a statement. “The world is a little bit darker and a little less funky without Bernie in it.“

More profiles and articles on Bernie Worrell can be found below:

NPR ; Rolling Stone ; The Guardian ; JazzTimes

This article was originally written on an old blog on 6.25.16.