Ask George Clinton, Legendary Funk Artist, Anything During August 7 Berklee Online Event
George Clinton received an honorary doctorate from Berklee President Roger H. Brown (right) in 2012. He will take your questions on August 7, 2017.
Photo by Kelly Davidson
In 2012, Berklee College of Music awarded legendary funk musician, songwriter, and producer George Clinton an honorary doctorate. Now it’s time for an appointment with "Dr. Funkenstein" himself. Berklee Online, the award-winning online continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, announced today that Clinton will be the first guest on the new Berklee Online Live: Songwriting series. The series is an interactive video interview forum from Berklee Online’s digital magazine, Take Note.
Using social media, viewers will have the opportunity to ask guests like Clinton about songwriting by posting questions with hashtag #BerkleeOnlineLIVE. Those submitting questions are encouraged to get creative (for example, by posting photos yourself with hand-written questions, five-second video clips, etc.). The event will be streamed on the Take Note website and on Berklee Online’s YouTube channel on Monday, August 7, at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Without George Clinton, funk as we know it would not exist. Having spent the past six decades writing, recording, and revolutionizing music with his bands Parliament and Funkadelic, Clinton has produced more than 40 hit singles. His profound influence extends beyond the work of his own bands, and has paved the way for acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, Primus and more. Clinton’s songs have been sampled more than 2,000 times, making him one of the most sampled artists of all time. His recent collaborations with Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar prove that his influence has no expiration date.
Berklee Online Live began as an interactive interview series with PledgeMusic founder Benji Rogers '92. The series continues with Pat Healy speaking to guests about the inexact science of songwriting.
Pat Healy is senior writer/editor for Berklee Online. He is also the host of Berklee Online’s popular podcast, Music Is My Life. Prior to Berklee, he was the music editor for Metro newspapers. He has interviewed hundreds of musicians, and written about music for Pitchfork, Spin, Paste, the Boston Globe, and many other publications.
Berklee Online is the largest online music school in the world, with 165 online courses, 62 certificate programs, and an online bachelor’s degree with nine majors. Berklee Online teaches nearly 9,000 students annually in its for-credit offerings, and has taught close to two million students via its free massive open online courses (MOOCs). Berklee Online’s student body includes Grammy award-winning musicians, producers, composers, entrepreneurs, world-class performers, actors, and more.