Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dies at 74: RIP to Billy Bass Nelson

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Billy Bass Nelson, who was the founding bassist for Parliament-Funkadelic, has died. He was 75.

Nelson’s death was announced on Jan. 31 by the official George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic Facebook page. “We have now received official confirmation,” a statement on the page read. “Rest in eternal peace and Funk, Billy Bass Nelson (January 28th, 1951-January 31st, 2026), bassist/guitarist for Parliament-Funkadelic.”

Nelson, born William Nelson Jr., was in hospice care at the time of his death Saturday, according to the New York Times, but no official cause of death has been announced publicly.

On Jan. 11, Clinton’s Facebook page shared that the group was keeping Nelson “in our thoughts and in our hearts.”

Born in Plainfield, N.J., on Jan. 28, 1951, Nelson first met George Clinton as a teenager when he was sweeping floors and singing at his barbershop. When Clinton formed his doo-wop group, the Parliaments, he then recruited Nelson and his good friend Eddie Hazel for his backing band, later coined Funkadelic, according to Clinton’s website.

In 1967, the Parliaments scored a nationwide hit with their song “(I Wanna) Testify,” and by 1970, Funkadelic was a full band consisting of Nelson, Hazel, drummer Tiki Fulwood, guitarist Tawl Ross, and keyboardist Mickey Atkins, who was later replaced by Bernie Worrell.

In the early 1970s, the Parliaments were forced to find a new name amid a legal dispute with their record label, Revilot, and so the entire ensemble signed to Westbound Records under the name Funkadelic.

Nelson was featured as a bassist on Funkadelic’s first three albums — Funkadelic (1970), Free Your Mind … and Your Ass Will Follow (1970), and Maggot Brain (1971) — and he also sang lead vocals on at least one song per album, including “Super Stupid” off of Maggot Brain, a song he also famously co-wrote.

In 1971, Nelson left the group amid a financial dispute with Clinton, going on to perform with The Temptations alongside Hazel. Four years later, Nelson rejoined Funkadelic briefly to play on “Better By the Pound” from the album Let’s Take It To The Stage.

Nelson would go on to play with The Commodores, Chairmen of the Board, Fishbone, Jermaine Jackson, Parlet, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, and Lenny Williams.

In 1994, Nelson released the album Out of the Dark under the name O.G. Funk, and that same year, he rejoined Parliament-Funkadelic.

In 1997, Nelson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.