Bootsy Collins

Overview

Born
October 26, 1951 · Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Birth name
William Earl Collins
Height
6′ 2½″ (1.89 m)

Biography

Family

Spouse
Relatives

Trademarks

Very high-pitched and animated speech style
Wild, colorful outfits and star-shaped sunglasses

Trivia

Bootsy was generally clean cut when playing with The Pacesetters (James Brown's back-up band). Once he teamed up with George Clinton, he slowly started to dress in the wild, colorful outfits and star-shaped sunglasses that we know today.
Uncle of rapper Snoop Dogg.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 (as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic).
Legendary funk bass guitarist and composer.
Frequently works with George Clinton.

Quotes

We have so much more information now you would think we'd be better people, but it's working backwards. That's kind of scary. To experience being lost is much better. That's what I would throw in the mix. It's all right to get lost. We're throwing so much perfection in the game with our computers and smart phones, it's not cool to make a mistake., our self esteem goes down and we never like to hear the word 'no'. But our lives were mistake after mistake and through that we learned how to succeed.
[Jimi Hendrix] was my hero--the only artist whose poster I had hung up in my room. To this day he goes with me wherever I go. Even though I had all the respect in the world for James Brown, the push for independence and wanting to be free, to express ourselves on stage and dress differently, was too great. We were supposed to be in suits, shoes, well-groomed, and we wanted to do the wild thing. And we knew we couldn't do the wild thing with James Brown. It was his way or the highway. George [George Clinton] was like, "Whatever you can bring to the party, bring it". I would never have rode in the car with James Brown, with three chicks in the back seat, getting high. Anything and everything was possible with George. That was one extreme to the other. You need both in your life--the key is to combine the two.
It wasn't about black, white, green grass, bluegrass, it was all about music to me. All music had a certain effect on me and I appreciated all of it. Music is all one, not to be separated. It doesn't need a name. The key question is, "How does it make you feel?" Funk is where you don't have nothing and you make something out of nothing. I didn't have a bass, so I made my guitar into a bass. My brother gave me four bass strings, I restrung the guitar and "Ta-dah!" I'm ready to go.