George Clinton

George Clinton revolutionized funk and R&B at large as the mastermind of Parliament and Funkadelic. Versed in gospel, doo wop, and soul, Clinton -- a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and master conceptualist -- scored his first hit as co-writer and lead vocalist of the Parliaments' "(I Wanna) Testify" (1967), a fiery if tame precursor to what he and his ever-changing collective unleashed the following decade, highlighted by a clutch of animated and everlasting funk classics that topped the R&B chart. While P-Funk temporarily laid dormant, Clinton went solo with Computer Games (...