Original Funkadelic keyboardist Mickey Atkins dies at 71

(March 18, 2020) The band stands tall in the history of popular music, and he was an integral part of it from the start. We are sad today to report the death, at age 71, of Mickey Atkins, the original keyboardist for Funkadelic. His death was posted on the George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic Facebook Page.

Funkadelic was the child of R&B and funk mastermind, George Clinton, who formed the band to back up his vocal group The Parliaments in the mid-60s. After relocating to Detroit in 1968, the band took the name Funkadelic and signed to the local Westbound label. Influenced by the melding of rock and soul that came from legendary acts like James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone, Funkadelic made its own distinct sound, which was at times both looser and free form than other bands of the day.

Atkins was the organist for the group’s debut album, Funkadelic, in 1970, but the ascendancy of keyboardist Bernie Worrell developed the group’s sound as well as its lineup over the next decade -- with Atkins leaving -- as the band hit its stride with hit albums like Maggot Brain and America Eats Its Young.

By 1975, Funkadelic merged with Parliament, another Clinton creation, to form the collective Parliament-Funkadelic or P-Funk, and more than three decades of transcendent music and commercial success that paved the way for literally dozens of acts to follow.

While most of the P-Funk success came after Mickey Atkins departed from the group, he played a key role early on in establishing an all-time legendary act. Rest in Peace, Mr. Atkins.