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Bernie Worrell, 'Wizard Of Woo,' Dies At 72
I know most of you youngins have no clue about this man. But, in my opinion, if he were never born, a lot of music we enjoy to this day would never see any light.
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- Bernie Worrell performs at the Black Rock Coalition Presents: All The Woo In The World â An All-Star Celebration benefit concert on April 4 in New York City. The concert was raising money for Worrell's medical costs.
Al Pereira/WireImage
Keyboardist and composer Bernie Worrell, who helped shape the sound of the band Parliament-Funkadelic and influenced countless artists across a wide range of genres, died Friday at 72.
Worrell announced earlier this year that he had been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer.
His musical life began early — according to his official biography, he started studying piano at age 3, wrote his first concerto at age 8 and performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., at 10.
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The classically trained keyboardist (he studied at Juilliard and the New England Conservatory of Music) made his name — and an indelible mark on music — in the world of P-Funk.
Worrell, aka "The Wizard of Woo," was an early member of Parliament-Funkadelic, George Clinton's sprawling, theatrical and wildly influential funk collective.
I know most of you youngins have no clue about this man. But, in my opinion, if he were never born, a lot of music we enjoy to this day would never see any light.
RIP Bernie