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Calvin Simon, a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic, died on Thursday. “We misplaced one other Unique member of Parliament/Funkadelic,” former P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins wrote in a press release on Twitter. “A good friend, bandmate & a cool traditional man, Mr. Calvin Simon was a former member of Parliament/Funkadelic. He’s within the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen members of P-Funk!” P-Funk chief George Clinton added on Fb, “Relaxation in peace to my P-Funk brother Mr. Calvin Simon. Longtime Parliament-Funkadelic vocalist. Fly on Calvin!”
Born in Beckley, West Virginia in 1942, Simon grew up singing in his church’s choir. After his household moved to New Jersey, he joined the Parliaments, a doo-wop barbershop quintet led by George Clinton, within the late Nineteen Fifties. In 1966, Simon was drafted into the US Military and served in Vietnam. “The factor which means probably the most to me is how I dealt with the PTSD from my service within the Vietnam Conflict,” he as soon as stated. “I used to be capable of maintain the genie within the bottle, so to talk, and didn’t enable the evil ideas to interrupt by and manifest into actions.”
Upon his return, Simon continued working with the collective by its varied iterations, together with Parliament and Funkadelic. He in the end left the group, alongside unique Parliaments members Fuzzy Haskins and Grady Thomas, in 1977 following monetary and administration disputes. They shaped their very own band, releasing the album Connections and Disconnections below the Funkadelic title in 1981 earlier than issuing 1998’s What Dat Shakin’ and 2001’s Unique P Introducing the Westbound Souljaz below the Unique P moniker. In 1997, Simon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame alongside many different members of P-Funk.
Simon additionally pursued a solo profession, turning his consideration to gospel music and releasing his debut album Share the Information in 2004 on his personal label, Simon Sayz. He adopted it up with 2016’s It’s Not Too Late and 2018’s I Consider. “I wish to go across the nation singing these songs, with this music, this message, this band,” he informed the Tampa Bay Occasions in 2017. “That is what I wish to do with the remainder of my life. I hope any person alongside the best way will discover one thing within the music and it’ll convey them to Jesus as properly.”
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