Illustration by Jessica Dunham
When you apprentice with The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, you’re going to pick up a few pointers about how to conduct business on- and off-stage. Luckily for Bootsy Collins, 73, after studying at the temple of funk’s biggest star, James Brown, he’s taking those lessons and shaping them into the latest, greatest chapter of his star-spangled career.
“For me, ‘Bootsy’ is bigger than just music,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bass player says of his many brand extensions and offshoot projects. “I want to show other musicians that being a musician is not a curse, it’s a blessing. You have to work it and you have to hustle because music will sometimes get you there, but what will you do once you get there?”
Hence the “Star Berry Boogie” Poo-Pourri toilet spray, the Bootsy Brewski collaboration with Fretboard Brewing, the Funkship Chardonnay and Bootzilla Cabernet, Bootsy’s Body Slam hot sauce, and Bootzilla Blend coffee, among others. Most importantly, this month Collins is releasing his 23rd studio LP, Album of the Year #1 Funkateer, which features guest spots from players including Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Musiq Soulchild, Ice Cube, and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart. Collins hopes having lots of merch will keep his fans fully funked up. “If younger artists see me do it, then they’ll feel more inspired,” he says.
Collins had lessons on the importance of the business end of the music biz from Brown, who shared the adage It’s 75 percent business, 25 percent music. Though he bristled at the math as a 19-year-old who just wanted to jam, he gets it now—and he’s paying it forward.
In late 2024, Collins released an homage to two of Brown’s drummers, Jabo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield (“The JB’s Tribute Pastor P”), that featured Brown’s trombone player Fred Wesley, a tip of the star-spangled hat Collins says was his way of keeping the funk torch lit. As part of that project, Collins tapped Jack White’s Grammy-winning drummer Daru Jones to recreate Stubblefield’s signature “Funky Drummer” beat. “He was in town for a gig and wanted to go to King Records, so I had one of our guys let him in at the site and he took his drum kit and actually played the ‘Funky Drummer’ in what we’re trying to restore as the main recording studio,” Collins says.
Letting Jones into the King Records space was a major part of keeping the project to revitalize the historic site on track. “We’re getting ready to start restoring it,” Collins says.
Getting control of the Evanston site was the first and most crucial step to the years-long effort to reclaim the spot where Syd Nathan’s label made history in the 1940s and ’50s. City council approved a $205,000 payment to the King Records Legacy Foundation in 2024 to get the project moving.
Collins believes it remains his duty to “give up the funk” for himself because it’s the “right thing to do” but also for his late collaborators in Brown’s band and in Parliament-Funkadelic. He also sees the new album as a ray of hope and joy on which he serves as more of a mentor/coach than center of attention. “It was more like I’m changing with the times and how I feel, which is a good thing,” he says of stepping back from performing due to some issues with his right hand. “You can’t fake the funk, man. If you can’t do what you used to do and give it all up the way we used to, then I can’t funk with it. How can I fake all that energy on stage? I’m 73. I’m not using that as an excuse, but time changes you and your energy levels aren’t like that anymore.”
That’s why, on the new record, Collins is setting up the next generation to keep funk music vibrant. “I’m still getting this music vibe, and if I can’t do it myself then I’ll have someone else do it,” he says. “It’s still coming through me.”
Funkateers, don’t miss the date. Collins’s funktastic new album drops on April 11.
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