Jeanette Washington is a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

best known as a member of the band

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Washington appeared as a background singer on recordings by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

in 1975. That year she joined Parliament with Debbie Wright, becoming the first female members of the group. She recorded with Parliament (1975–1980) and

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkadeli ...

(1978–1980), both featuring George Clinton, and with the

Sweat Band ''Sweat Band'' is the 1980 debut album by the P-Funk spin off act the Sweat Band. The album was the first official release on the Uncle Jam Records label, formed by George Clinton and his business manager Archie Ivy, and distributed by CBS Rec ...

featuring

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

and

Maceo Parker Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and Prince in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of B ...

(1980). Washington formed the female spin-off band

Parlet Parlet was a female spinoff group from P-Funk formed by veteran background vocalists Mallia Franklin, Jeanette Washington and Debbie Wright. Washington and Wright were the first female members in Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadeli ...

in 1978 with Wright and

Mallia Franklin Rosalind Mallia Franklin (March 1, 1952 – February 5, 2010), also known as The Queen Of Funk, was a vocalist of the American funk band Parliament-Funkadelic. She introduced friends George Clinton and Bootsy Collins in 1971, and brought ex- Ohi ...

for their first album ''Pleasure Principle''. She recorded the group's remaining two albums ''Invasion Of the Booty Snatchers'' in 1979 and ''Play Me Or Trade Me'' in 1980 with Shirley Hayden and Janice Evans. Washington is the only Parlet member to have remained in the band for the duration of the group's career. Washington left Parliament in 1980. She recorded with

Dawn Silva Dawn Silva is an American funk vocalist. Silva started her career as a background vocalist for Sly and the Family Stone. She joined Parliament-Funkadelic in 1977. She was the only original Brides of Funkenstein member to continue through the Bri ...

in 2000.

References

P-Funk members Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-singer-stub