{"id":131959,"date":"2026-01-13T19:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T19:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/131959\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T19:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T19:02:08","slug":"george-clinton-brings-funk-fueled-mothership-to-the-music-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/131959\/","title":{"rendered":"George Clinton brings funk-fueled mothership to the Music Box"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"George<\/a>George Clinton. (Photo by Lynsey Weatherspoon\/Special to Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

George Clinton<\/a>, widely hailed as the Godfather of Funk, isn\u2019t resting on his laurels at 84.<\/p>\n

Instead, the outlandish octogenarian and his massive band of funkateers are still packing houses nationwide with marathon celebrations of the groove. On Jan. 18, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic bring their \u201cJust For the Funk of It!\u201d tour to the Music Box<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Concertgoers can expect a deep dive into P-Funk\u2019s songbook, from Funkadelic\u2019s \u201c(Not Just) Knee Deep\u201d and \u201cOne Nation Under a Groove\u201d to Parliament\u2019s \u201cFlash Light\u201d\u00a0and \u201cP-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up).\u201d Clinton\u2019s chart-topping \u201cAtomic Dog\u201d and the platinum party anthem \u201cGive Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)\u201d also tend to surface during the nearly three-hour set.<\/p>\n

While the current lineup no longer includes bassist Bootsy Collins or keyboardist Bernie Worrell, who died in 2016, the band remains stacked with longtime P-Funk soldiers. Guitarist Mike Hampton and bassist Lige Curry have been aboard since the \u201870s, while Bennie Cowan and Greg Thomas have anchored the group\u2019s legendary horn section for more than four decades.<\/p>\n

Known to fans as Dr. Funkenstein, Clinton has been laying down beats for over 65 years. He formed New Jersey doo-wop group The Parliaments in 1956, and by the late \u201860s the group evolved into Parliament and Funkadelic. The P-Funk collective would go on to score 13 top-10 hits, six of them No. 1s, and become one of the most innovative pioneers of psychedelia-infused funk.<\/p>\n

Parliament Funkadelic was inducted into the\u00a0Rock and Roll Hall of Fame<\/a>\u00a0in 1997, received the Recording Academy\u2019s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024.<\/p>\n

Last year, Parliament\u2019s landmark album Mothership Connection celebrated its 50th anniversary, Clinton was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Billboard named Parliament Funkadelic among the 50 best rock bands of all time.<\/p>\n

With P-Funk among the most sampled bands in hip-hop history, Clinton has been at the center of ongoing disputes over music rights. The songwriter has long sought compensation for the widespread use of his work, even suing the Black Eyed Peas for unauthorized sampling.<\/p>\n

When this writer spoke with him in 2016, Clinton was blunt about the issue. \u201cWe have more songs out there than anybody, and I don\u2019t get one penny from any of the streams of royalties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Last March, Clinton filed a $100 million lawsuit against Bridgeport Music, alleging the publisher fraudulently acquired copyrights to nearly his entire catalog over decades. He is seeking to reclaim ownership.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no disputing the impact Clinton and his collaborators have had on generations of artists across genres, from Red Hot Chili Peppers and OutKast to Prince and Kendrick Lamar. Their legacy was built on a relentless groove that could both rattle the floorboards and tear the roof off the sucker.<\/p>\n

If catching George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic live isn\u2019t on your bucket list, it should be. Now\u2019s your chance to board the Mothership and experience the unbridled, booty-shaking, intergalactic dance party that it is. Doors open at 7 p.m., with the show starting at 8. DJ Mikey Beats will spin phat tracks to pump up the crowd. Get your tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Donovan Roche is a longtime music writer and frequent contributor to Times of San Diego. Send your story ideas to\u00a0droche617@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT\n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George Clinton. (Photo by Lynsey Weatherspoon\/Special to Times of San Diego) George Clinton, widely hailed as the Godfather…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[67612,67613,67614,330,67615,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-131959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-funk","tag-george-clinton","tag-mothership","tag-music","tag-parliament-funkadelic","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}