Detroit, Jan 11: Calvin Simon, a founding member of the American funk music group Parliament-Funkadelic and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, has died at the age of 79.
“We lost another Original member of Parliament/Funkadelic,” Bootsy Collins wrote on Instagram, confirming Simon’s death. “A friend, bandmate & a cool classic guy, Mr. Calvin Simon was a former member of Parliament/Funkadelic. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen members of P-Funk! R.I.P Bootsy baby!!!”
“Rest in peace to my P-Funk brother Mr. Calvin Simon,” a post on George Clinton‘s Facebook page said. “Longtime Parliament-Funkadelic vocalist. Fly on Calvin!”
Calvin was born in 1942 in West Virginia, where he was a singer in a church choir, though in his teens he ended up relocating to New Jersey. He worked as a barber, and by the late 1950s, Simon joined the group originally known as the Parliaments, first formed as a doo-wop quintet with fellow barbers George Clinton and Grady Thomas and customers Ray Davis and Fuzzy Haskins.
Simon was drafted in 1967 to serve in Vietnam and then went on to sing with the group that later became known as Parliament-Funkadelic. Over the years Parliament grew over the years and began to explore R&B, acid rock, and funk, Simon stayed in the band and continued to contribute as a singer. He appeared on Parliament classics like Mothership Connection and Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome as well as Funkadelic albums Maggot Brain and Cosmic Slop. He eventually parted ways with the group due to financial disputes.
“The thing that means the most to me is how I handled the PTSD from my service in the Vietnam War,” he said in a statement posted on his website. “I was able to keep the genie in the bottle, so to speak, and did not allow the evil thoughts to break through and manifest into actions. Instead, I found my faith and relied on the higher power to see me through.”
Along with other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, Simon was inducted by Prince into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
