Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Parliament-Funkadelic Keyboardist Bernie Worrell Dies at 72

Bernie Worrell
Bernie Worrell

*Bernie Worrell, the funk keyboardist whose work with Parliament-Funkadelic helped to stretch the genre toward new frontiers, has died at age 72 following a battle with lung cancer, according to his Facebook page.

Worrell’s death was confirmed by his wife Judie. “At 11:54, June 24, 2016, Bernie transitioned Home to The Great Spirit. Rest in peace, my love — you definitely made the world a better place. Till we meet again, vaya con Dios,” she posted.

bernie worrell2

As a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic, Worrell’s indelible keyboard skills — including his pioneering use of Minimoog on songs like Parliament’s “Flashlight” — were a major influence on R&B in the ’80s, hip-hop, new wave and early electronic music.

Worrell was also a regular contributor to Talking Heads in the ’80s, appearing on several of their albums and featuring in the classic documentary Stop Making Sense.

The keyboardist was diagnosed with lung cancer in January and saw his health rapidly decline in the following months. The last Facebook update from  Worrell’s wife, dated June 16, said he was “headed ‘home.'”

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