Calvin Eugene Simon (May 22, 1942 – January 6, 2022) was an American singer who was a member of the bands
Parliament and
Funkadelic. He is a member of the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 along with fifteen other members of
Parliament-Funkadelic.
Early life
Simon was born in
Beckley, West Virginia on May 22, 1942. Simon was drafted into the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
in 1966, and served with C Battery, 3rd Battalion,
13th Field Artillery Regiment, 9th Infantry Division during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
in 1967–68.
[Williams, Kari, "From P-Funk to the Mekong Delta", ''VFW Magazine'', vol. 105, no. 5, February 2018, pp. 18-20.]
Career
Simon started out in the late 1950s as one of
The Parliaments
The Parliaments were an American vocal quintet from Plainfield, New Jersey, United States. Originally formed in the back room of a barbershop in 1956, the quintet was named after the cigarette brand. The Parliaments initially performed doo-wop ...
, a
doo wop barbershop quintet led by
George Clinton. In 1978, Simon (along with other original Parliaments
Fuzzy Haskins and
Grady Thomas), left
Parliament-Funkadelic after financial and management disputes with Clinton. In 1981, the trio caused confusion when they formed a new band, and released an album called ''
Connections & Disconnections
''Connections & Disconnections'' is an album recorded by Fuzzy Haskins, Calvin Simon, and Grady Thomas under the name Funkadelic.
With the history of financial disputes with Clinton behind them, and backing from Westbound Records founder Armen ...
'' under the name Funkadelic. In 1998, Simon, along with original Parliaments bass vocalist
Ray Davis, Haskins, and Grady Thomas, founded
Original P, performing until his departure in 2007.
After a hiatus from the music industry, Simon turned to
gospel music and recorded for his own label,
Simon Says Records
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
. In June 2004 he released an album called ''
Share the News'', which reached #32 on the "Billboard" Top Gospel Albums chart. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Death
Simon died on January 6, 2022, at the age of 79.
References
External links
CalvinSimon.com*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Calvin
1942 births
2022 deaths
20th-century African-American singers
21st-century African-American singers
People from Beckley, West Virginia
Military personnel from West Virginia
P-Funk members
Singers from West Virginia
American gospel singers
United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War
United States Army soldiers