George Clinton Remembers Prince: ‘The Epitome of a Rock Star.”
In an interview with Billboard, George Clinton shares his fondest memories of the fallen icon Prince.
The veteran funkateer deemed the legendary singer-guitarist as “the epitome of a rock star.” Like many people coping with the sudden loss of Prince, Clinton reflects back to when the two first met in the 70’s.
You may not know the Funkadalic legend helped jump-start Prince’s career. At one point, it was Clinton who pitched some of Prince’s music to an influential Detroit DJ by name ‘The Electrifying Mojo’. Following the pitch (at a time of musical and social development), Prince gained airplay, repaying Clinton by signing him to his label, Paisley Park Records.
Clinton talks about working with Prince in the studio. He said, Prince was "quiet in the studio" however, "when you see him on stage with those people and they're giving him props like he's supposed to be getting, you realize, 'Damn, this motherf---er is all that.” He praised Prince's genius as a guitarist and songwriter, noting his legendary performance during the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
He closed by saying he felt about Prince in the 70s, the way he feels about Kendrick Lamar now.
"You could see it coming," he said. "You could see he was Sly [Stone] for the new generation. This is so hard to process on my brain right now. That was just so left field. I was not ready for anything like that. It's hard to speak of, man."