NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ EMI
Music Publishing) - Legendary bassist, singer and songwriter Bootsy Collins has signed a long-term administration agreement with EMI
Music Publishing, it was announced today.
The extensive funk and R&B song catalog of the Cincinnati-based musician, who was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, will now be represented and marketed by EMI Music Publishing on a worldwide basis. Bootsy joins a roster of hit-making songwriters that includes Beyonce, James Blunt, Duffy, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Pink, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Amy Winehouse
Since forming the Pacemakers as a 17-year-old in 1968, Bootsy Collins has been at the center of the funk movement, first as a member of James Brown's backing band before joining George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic in 1972. He launched Bootsy's Rubber Band as a spin-off of P-Funk in 1976, and has co-written a string of R&B chart hits including 'I'd Rather Be With You', 'Flash Light', 'Stretchin' Out (In A Rubber Band)', 'The Pinocchio Theory' and the chart-topping 'Bootzilla'.
Bootsy Collins said: 'It's time, 2009, time to go back to the strong brew, that's one of a kind, the only music publishing institution that's as strong as moonshine, and smooth like vintage wine. If this is what it takes then I have committed the crime, yeah I signed, and we gone blow the music world's funkin' mind. All it took was Big Jon at EMI, to say we want the funk, because we ain't shy, we ain't fakin' and we ain't ashamed. This is our chance to dance and raise the bar for the rest of these muthas that's fakin' in the game. I am so glad and happy EMI chose me, we got a black President and now you got the Pee!'
EMI Music Publishing President of West Coast Creative Big Jon Platt comments: 'To work with Bootsy is something music publishers dream of. His work, whether with his own bands or with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic, continues to inspire and impact music in exciting and powerful ways. We are honored to help make sure the force and influence of Bootsy's music remains in the forefront of music culture."
As well as releasing six Bootsy's Rubber Band albums (including the gold-selling 'Ahh�The Name Is Bootsy, Baby!'), Bootsy Collins has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry. He has recorded with Herbie Hancock, Keith Richards, Cyndi Lauper and Afrika Bambaataa, and provided guest vocals and played bass on Dee-Lite's smash 1991 hit 'Groove Is In The Heart'. In 2002, he received his first Grammy for his work on Fatboy Slim's 'Weapon Of Choice'. Earlier this year he released his latest album, 'The-Official-Boot-Legged-Bootsy'.
Bootsy is particularly active in his native Cincinnati. He founded the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, and opened the new themed restaurant Bootsy's in the city at the end of last year.
EMI Music Publishing is the world's most creative music publisher with more than one million copyrights including some of the best known songs ever written. Included in the EMI Music Publishing catalog are iconic songs such as 'New York New York', 'You've Got A Friend', 'The James Bond Theme', 'Lady Marmalade', 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', 'Always On My Mind', 'Over The Rainbow', 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' and 'Singin' In the Rain'.
