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Bootsy (born William Collins, October 26, 1951, Cincinnati) is a funk/R&B
bassist/singer/bandleader. He formed his first group, the Pacesetters, in 1968,
featuring Phelps "Catfish" Collins (his brother; guitar), Frankie "Kash" Waddy
(drums), and Philippe Wynne. From 1969 to 1971, the group functioned as James
Brown's backup band and was dubbed the JB's. In 1972, Bootsy joined George
Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic. He launched Bootsy's Rubber Band as a spin-off
of P-Funk in 1976, the band including his brother Phelps, Waddy, Joel "Razor
Sharp" Johnson (keyboards), Gary "Mudd-Bone" Cooper (drums), and Robert "P-Nut"
Johnson (vocals), along with "the Horny Horns." (He was sometimes billed alone
as Bootsy, and sometimes as William "Bootsy" Collins.)
Signing to Warner Bros., he enjoyed the first of his 15 R&B singles-chart
entries in 1976 with "Stretchin' Out (In a Rubber Band)." His most successful
singles were "The Pinocchio Theory" (1977) and the chart-topping "Bootzilla"
(1978). He also released six albums on Warners through 1982, including the
gold-sellers Ahh...the Name Is Bootsy Baby! (1977) and Bootsy? Player of the
Year (1978), then took a six-year recording hiatus, and returned on Columbia in
1988 with the appropriately named What's Bootsy Doin'? In 1989, Bootsy was a
member of the Bootzilla Orchestra on Malcolm McLaren's album Waltz Dancing. In
1990, Bootsy was a featured guitarist and bassist with the dance music trio
Deee-Lite. Bootsy's New Rubber Band released Blasters of the Universe on August
2, 1994. Straight Outta P University followed four years later.
Credit: vh1.com
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