George Clinton

As leader of the legendary Parliament-Funkadelic, singer-songwriter-producer George Clinton stood alongside James Brown as one of the architects of funk, as well as hip-hop, funk-rock and various other permutations of rock and soul music. Parliament-Funkadelic, or P-Funk, as it was known to millions of devotees, began as the Parliaments, a doo-wop group founded by Clinton in the back of a barbershop. The act eventually became a soul band called Parliament, which found only modest success until Clinton struck on the idea of merging R&B with the heavier sounds of rock groups like Cream. The result was two groups, Parliament and Funkadelic, which alternated names to avoid various legal issues. The groups eventually came together as Parliament-Funkadelic, a collective that delivered eccentric but undeniably funky tunes that hinged on Clinton's offbeat vision of an extraterrestrial world united by a groove. Legal battles undid the P-Funk empire in the early '80s, and Clinton would enjoy brief success as a solo act with the delirious "Atomic Dog." But hip-hop would provide his true second coming through a generation of rappers, from Dr. Dre to Snoop Dogg, and rockers like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who drew inspiration from his legacy for their own music. A genuine music visionary, George Clinton brought class, race and ethnicity together in a single nation under his undeniable groove.