Photo Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Founding Parliament-Funkadelic Member, Clarence 'Fuzzy' Haskins, Has Died
Founding Parliament-Funkadelic singer Clarence 'Fuzzy' Haskins, who later began a solo music career in the '70s, has died at 81.
The funk and soul community mourns the recent loss of Clarence 'Fuzzy' Haskins, a founding member of legendary collective Parliament-Funkadelic. On Friday (March 17), Parliament-Funkadelic members George Clinton and Bootsy Collins shared the news on social media.
\u201cPrayer's going out to Clarence "Fuzzys" Haskins family & friends.\ud83d\ude4f We lost his frequency today \n3-17- 23. He was an original Parliament/Funkadelic inducted in the RHOF.\ud83e\udd18We will miss u my friend, bandmate & Soul brother!\ud83d\ude22 Thx u for ur guidance in my pup year's. Bootsy baby!!!\ud83e\udd29\u201d— Bootsy Collins (@Bootsy Collins) 1679100043
Born on June 8, 1941 in Elkhorn, West Virginia, a teenage Haskins would first join music group Gel-Airs before accompanying Clinton in New Jersey doo-wop group the Parliaments in the 1960s. Occasionally singing lead vocals, Haskins became a vital part of the group, which transformed into Parliament-Funkadelic by 1968. Haskins, who would embark on a solo music career in the mid-'70s, had songwriting credits on several Funkadelic tracks, including “I Get a Thing” and “I Wanna Know if It’s Good to You.”
Although Haskins would become a preacher and record gospel music in his later years, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as part of Parliament-Funkadelic. The group also received Grammy Lifetime Achievement recognition in 2019.
"He was known, during live P-Funk shows, to don skin-tight bodysuits and gyrate against the microphone pole as he whipped the crowd into a frenzy, especially when they performed 'Standing on the Verge of Getting It On,'" reads Haskins' biography on Clinton's website.
"Parliament-Funkadelic pushed boundaries further and further on classic albums like Mothership Connection and Maggot Brain, and set a futuristic pace for Black music," said Rock & Roll Hall of Fame representative Dawn Wayt. "But Clarence 'Fuzzy' Haskins kept things connected to their street corner harmony roots."
Check out more tributes below.
\u201cIn Memoriam: Clarence \u201cFuzzy\u201d Haskins started making music with George Clinton in the late 1950s as an original member of the doo-wop quintet the Parliaments. He continued to sing alongside Clinton for decades, as a key member of Parliament-Funkadelic, inducted in 1997. 1/2\u201d— Rock Hall (@Rock Hall) 1679152678
\u201cClarence Fuzzy Haskins. \nFounding member of P-Funk & RRHOF member \ud83e\udd18\ud83c\udffe Rest In Funkentelechy my brother. https://t.co/OHJaXLnQME\u201d— ?st (@?st) 1679118364
\u201cFuzzy Haskins continues his cosmic journey in the next realm. He left his mark on this one.\u201d— Wax Poetics (@Wax Poetics) 1679267523
\u201cSIDEBAR: This 1969 live performance occurred at the WGBH Boston studios for the first Black affairs show in the nation \u201cSay Brother!\u201d. Parliament performed in Boston venues, most notably The Sugar Shack regularly throughout their early years. Rest in eternal peace, Fuzzy Haskins\u201d— Dart_Adams (@Dart_Adams) 1679149261
\u201cI just discovered (on YouTube) this rare 1971 promo clip of Funkadelic for \u201cYou and Your Folks, Me and My Folks.\u201d Here, vocalist Fuzzy Haskins is not singing, but playing drums. The audio is not live, but the studio recording of the song.\u201d— DJ Soul Sister (@DJ Soul Sister) 1679162661
\u201cRest in Peace Original Parliament Funkadelic singer Fuzzy Haskins.\u201d— Dwann B \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Dwann B \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1679101959
\u201cClarence 'Fuzzy' Haskins \u2728\n\n...and friends - Nathan Phillips Square, 1971\u201d— aural medium (@aural medium) 1679244000
