Today, funk legend Bootsy Collins releases a new single “The JB’s Tribute Pastor P,” an addictively percussive tribute honoring two of Bootsy’s former JB’s bandmates – James Brown’s band – and legendary drummers in their own rights, John “Jabo” Starks and Clyde Stubblefield. The track features viral rap sensation Harry Mack, an iconic bassline from Bootsy himself, a magical trombone breakdown from former JB’s member Fred Wesley, and percussion from legendary drummer Daru Jones, known for his work with Jack White and Pete Rock.
This single drops the day before Bootsy’s 73rd birthday–to celebrate both, Bootsy is hosting a party today at the Cincinnati Public Library in the South Atrium, 4C Room from 4-7 pm!
This is the latest single from Bootsy’s forthcoming new album Album of the Year #1 Funkateer – now set for release on April 11, 2025 via Roc Nation Distribution / Bootzilla Records.
A few months ago, Daru Jones called Bootsy Collins about hanging out in the legendary King Studios in Bootsy’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, where James Brown and early iterations of the JB’s (as well as other artists like Freddy King, Bootsy, Hank Ballard, Professor Longhair, Bill Dogget, Otis Williams and the Charms, Lil Willie John, Charles Spurling, The Dapps, and others) used to record. Bootsy called his production manager Kent Butts to let Daru into the historical studio, and that is where the magic began. Daru set up his drums and played as if he was Clyde and Jabo recording “Funky Drummer.” Once finished, Bootsy took the tapes and started to build the track from Daru’s drum work and sounds of Clyde and Jabo grooving out.
As is Bootsy’s way these days, he created a foundation and invited talent he scoured and found on the internet – including viral rapper Harry Mack, guitarist Ella Feingold, and his stalwart co-creator German rapper Fantaazma. But he also got some help from legends including JB’s trombonist Fred Wesley, who cooks up a mean solo, and drummer Daru Jones, known for his work with Jack White, who brings the inspiration of Stubbefield and Starks to life on this track. The result is what Bootsy is all about – a little of the old, with a pinch of the new, and a heaping spoonful of Bootsy’s undeniable magic.
On his 23rd studio album Album of the Year #1 Funkateer, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer finds himself in a new position – that of coach and above all, producer. Crafting a sound that sonically runs the Bootsy gamut from bedroom Bootsy, to space-alien adventures to unexpected rock, Collins has drawn together a network of collaborators from Snoop Dogg, Dave Stewart, Wiz Khalifa, October London, Fantaazma, and many more who light the fire in him and helped him make the album of the year.
“When I start on a project now, it's about getting the energy from people around me,” says funk maestro Bootsy Collins. “Then I proceed to gather transmissions from the universe to know what to talk about. It's important to me to see who the universe brings to me, and I've been really blessed that every time I want to do a new record, I get these incredible musicians around me, right on time. That's what this album helps me do—Transmitting & receiving with different musicians and artists that have the same desire I had when I was their age.”
This open-minded attitude has helped Collins reach new generations for more than five decades.
From his early work bringing a youthful vigor and refreshing James Brown’s backing band as a founding member of the JB’s and learning the Power of the One to his seminal work with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic universe, playing on most of their landmark albums over the next decade and co-writing such classics as "Up for the Down Stroke," "Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)," and the chart-topping "Flash Light." He also led the side project Bootsy’s Rubber Band, recording multiple gold-certified albums and the Number One R&B hit “Bootzilla,” and began contributing to recordings by artists including Keith Richards, Iggy Pop, Herbie Hancock, and triple platinum artist Kali Uchis. When Rolling Stone put together their list of the Greatest Bassists of All Time, Bootsy was ranked in the top five.
He collaborated with dance superstars Deee-Lite on their 1990 smash “Groove Is In the Heart,” provided the lead vocal on Fatboy Slim’s Grammy-winning 2000 hit “Weapon of Choice,” and acted as the narrator on Silk Sonic’s 2021 platinum album An Evening with Silk Sonic (he even gave Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak the name for their project).
The eighteen tracks on Album of the Year cover all the bases, from the silly Bootsy (on “Chicken & Fries”) to the sexy Bootsy (“Pure Perfection,” which uses a delivery that Bruno Mars calls “Bedroom Bootsy voice”) to the social commentary of “2Nite we Rise.”
The social commentary is true to Bootsy’s heart – he has spent the past year bringing his mission Funk Not Fight to SXSW, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Compton, and his hometown in Cincinnati, with more cities to be announced. The Funk Not Fight project is a growing initiative that encourages peace, creativity, and anti-violence by creating community hubs that provide mental health resources and music studios, among other activations, still being announced.
