Bernie Worrell

Bernie Worrell
Worrell performing in Vienna in 2009
Background information
Birth name	George Bernard Worrell, Jr.
Also known as	"The Wizard of Woo"
Born	(1944-04-19)April 19, 1944 Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	June 24, 2016(2016-06-24) (aged 72) Everson, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Funk, rock, alternative rock, blues rock, R&B, jazz, psychedelic rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, producer
Instruments	Keyboard, piano, organ, synthesizer
Years active	c.1970–2016
Associated acts	Parliament-Funkadelic, Talking Heads, Praxis, Tom Tom Club, Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains
Website	bernieworrell.com

George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Worrell was described by Jon Pareles of The New York Times as "the kind of sideman who is as influential as some bandleaders."

Worrell was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, where his family moved when he was eight. A musical prodigy, he began formal piano lessons by age three and wrote a concerto at age eight. He went on to study at the Juilliard School and received a degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in 1967. As a college student, Worrell played with a group called Chubby & The Turnpikes; this ensemble eventually evolved into Tavares.

After meeting George Clinton, leader of a Plainfield-based doo wop group called The Parliaments, Worrell, Clinton, The Parliaments and their backing band, The Funkadelics, moved to Detroit, Michigan; thereafter, both groups became collectively known as Parliament-Funkadelic. During the 1970s the same group of musicians separately recorded under the names Parliament and Funkadelic, (among several others), but toured as P-Funk. Worrell played grand piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hohner Clavinet, Hammond B3 organ, ARP String Ensemble and Moog synthesizer, co-wrote, and wrote horn and rhythm arrangements on hit recordings for both groups and other associated bands under the "Parliafunkadelicment Thang" production company, and many of his most notable performances were recorded with Bootsy's Rubber Band, Parlet, The Brides of Funkenstein and The Horny Horns. Worrell recorded a 1978 solo album, All the Woo in the World, with the musical backing of P-Funk's members.