Bootsy Collins | Artist Profile

The year 2026 marks Bootsy Collins’ Iconic Anniversary — one of Funk’s most-innovative and influential Founding Fathers turns 75, marking nearly 60 years of voltaic genre-hopping songwriting, producing, playing, and performing. This also makes 2026 the 50th anniversary of Bootsy’s debut record Stretchin’ Out in Bootsy’s Rubber Band: a classic no-skips album, featuring revered tracks, such as “Stretchin’ Out (In a Rubber Band),” “Vanish In Our Sleep,” “Psychoticbumpschool,” and the ever-sampled, inspiring, and infectious “I’d Rather Be With You.”

What’s more, Bootsy Collins and Palefest are collaborating to put on Bootzilla’s Bucketheadland of Illusion event — one of many celebrations to come with this year’s Iconic Anniversary.

Watch this space, to keep up with all things Bootsy Collins in 2026, including the gear for Bootsy’s legendary collaborators!

• Funk Alert! Stream “Manic-Depression” — the Latest Single from Bootsy Collins and Eric Gales
• Own the Ark: the Wax Poetics & Bootsy Collins Auction Has Landed
• Palefest Presents: Bootzilla’s Bucketheadland of Illusion
• Metal Health and the Power of Community: Growing Mental Healthcare Partnerships, The Bootsy Collins Network, and Capture the FUNK!
• Supporting Mental Health Awareness with The Bootsy Collins Foundation and MusiCares
• Metal Health: Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, and an Unrivaled Sonic Assembly — The Gear Behind the Upcoming Album
• Guitar: Eric Gales, Barbie T, Jennifer Batten, Ella Feingold, and Cob
• Turntables and Keys: Tobotious
• Saxophones, Studio Gear, and Sequencing: Chew Fu
• Drums and Bass: Dennis Chambers, Rob Trujillo, Billy Sheehan, and Nate Alien 8

Foundational Funk: Behind the Scenes with Bootsy

Funk Alert! Stream “Manic Depression” — the Latest Single from Bootsy Collins and Eric Gales

With June and Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month coming to a close, Bootsy Collins and Eric Gales continue the Metal Health mission of destigmatizing mental healthcare and opening the floor to honest conversations about taking care of ourselves and each other. To that end, the two’s latest single couldn’t have arrived at a better time: a tribute to and cover of the iconic Jimi Hendrix and his song “Manic Depression.”

Stream it below and read on to learn more about the Palefest, as well as the personnel, performances, and gear powering the upcoming, full-length Metal Health album!

Own the Ark: the Wax Poetics & Bootsy Collins Auction Has Landed

Bootsy Collins and Wax Poetics have partnered for a first-of-its-kind expedition into Bootsy’s legendary Ark of audial artifacts, giving you the unrivaled opportunity to add foundational funk force to your garrison of grooves. From signed guitars and vintage synthesizers to classic promo materials and historic outfits, this auction won’t last long. Head to Wax Poetics to see for yourself!

Palefest Presents: Bootzilla’s Bucketheadland of Illusion

Situated in Middletown, Ohio, Palefest is a multimedia celebration of art, craftwork, music, and thrills, and Bootsy’s ultra-groovy alter ego is taking over, July 24–25, with Bootzilla’s Bucketheadland of Illusion. This one-of-a-kind event blurs the boundaries of live music, performance art, innovative stage design, mind-blowing visual experimentation, and cutting-edge interactivity, placing you right at the center of prismatic imagination and uncompromising creativity — you gotta get weird!

Throughout this celebration of all things unapologetically artistic, fun, and engaging, Palefest defies convention and reimagines how you can experience the funk in a live-show environment. Get your tickets for Bootzilla’s Bucketheadland of Illusion from Palefest!

Metal Health and the Power of Community: Growing Mental Healthcare Partnerships, The Bootsy Collins Network, and Capture the FUNK!

As the Metal Health mission continues into June, Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month is in full swing, adding additional partners are getting on board to spread the Metal Health message — taking care of your mental health is more important than ever and it benefits everyone! The Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation, the John Lennon Educational Bus Tour, and Artists For Action have joined funk forces with The Bootsy Collins Foundation, in support of all things personal wellbeing.

Plus, Bootsy Collins and crew continue to make self-care as accessible as possible, thanks to the ever-expanding repertoire of The Bootsy Collins Network, as well as the exciting, game Capture the FUNK!

Supporting Mental Health Awareness with The Bootsy Collins Foundation and MusiCares

June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, and Sweetwater is honored to join The Bootsy Collins Foundation in their ongoing Metal Health support for mental healthcare and wellbeing throughout the nation, as well as in the hearts and communities of Cincinnati, Ohio — Bootsy’s birthplace and home.

Additionally, MusiCares — the philanthropic arm of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, as well as a longtime partner with Sweetwater’s own philanthropic dedication — is joining The Bootsy Collins Foundation’s mental health mission. As part of Metal Health launching with Mental Health Awareness Month, you can scan the QR code below to donate to MusiCares, helping them in their ongoing support for everyone in the music industry that makes it all possible, from the studio to the stage, and everywhere in between!

Further proud partners include: DR Strings, Electro-Harmonix, the 1819 Innovation Hub at University of Cincinnati, the Osher Center for Integrative Health at University of Cincinnati, Glenwood Behavioral Health, Madi’s House, Linder Center of Hope, WaxPoetics, DJ Chill X, and NAMI Southwest Ohio!

Metal Health: Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, and an Unrivaled Sonic Assembly — The Gear Behind the Upcoming Album

With the new full-length LP Metal Health on the horizon, Bootsy Collins and Buckethead are joined by an all-star cast of collaborators, including: Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Trujillo, Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Dennis Chambers, Eric Gales, Adam Deitch, Chew Fu, Manou Gallo, Lachy Doley, Jennifer Batten, DJ Tobotious, Ouiwey Collins, Cob, and the late legend Bernie Worrell. There’s no shortage of premium performance prowess abounding across Metal Health, and the gear behind every contribution is essential to the distinctive aural aperture of the record’s multidimensional musicality — check it out below!

Bootsy Collins

Metal Health is a voltaic display of production, playing, songwriting, and sonic power, spanning a versatile swath of styles, solos, and serious artistic ingenuity; a testament to Bootsy Collins’s and Buckethead’s shared dedication to uncompromising creativity. Here’s the gear that made it possible.

Bass, Guitars, Pedals, and Amps

In classic multi-instrumental fashion, Bootsy Collins held down an array of guitar, bass, pedal, drum programming, and sound design responsibilities, when writing and recording Metal Health. The original Space Bass, as well as Bootsy’s signature and Star Bass Warwick models, were joined by a funk-staple Fender Jazz Bass and vintage Ampeg Big Stud GEB 750 hollowbody bass guitar. And for select 6-string showings, Bootsy borrowed Buckethead’s revered, kill switch-equipped Gibson. When it comes to drum programming, Bootsy utilized Splice.

On the amplifier front, no tone-sculpting stones went unturned. Bootsy’s Metal Health musicality was brought to life by:

• Warwick Amplification Hellborg Preamp
• Hughes & Kettner BassBase 600
• Ampeg Portaflex B-18-X (Vintage)
• Marshall JCM900 Tube Head with 4×12 Cab
• Hughes & Kettner TriAmp with 4×12 Cab

It should come as no surprise that the Forefather of Funk keeps his pedalboard stocked with myriad sound-shaping tools, spanning Electro-Harmonix, BOSS, MXR, DigiTech, Korg, Chunk Systems, Panda Audio, and Mu-Tron.

Buckethead

Buckethead — the Praetor of Poultry — is no stranger to the fringes of golden-fried fret work, revered for his mix of ultra-technical tonal tenacity and brilliantly imaginative production and songwriting. As a frequent collaborator of Bootsy’s, Buckethead is right at home, on Metal Health.

In addition to his trademark Gibson Les Paul, with its 27-inch baritone scale, imposing inlay-free fretboard, striking all-white finish, and high-contrast kill switch and pickup controls, Buckethead’s work with Bootsy spanned a gamut of studio and recording magic.

Studio Hardware, Software, Mics, and Monitoring

At the heart of Metal Health is Pro Tools Studio, running on an Apple iMac, controlling and processing a suite of classic and contemporary hardware and software, including a Universal Audio Apollo X8 interface and a Solid State Logic UF8 DAW control surface. JBL 708P 7 Series, 8-inch monitors are joined by AKG K712 and K612 headphones, to dial in diabolical levels of funk, frenzy, and finesse.

Revered, vintage recording tools were critical to nailing the sound of Metal Health, as well, with Bootsy and Buckethead opting for both a Telefunken AK47 microphone and a Neve 9098 mic preamp, coupled with a Lewitt LCT940 tube microphone, for these sessions in the Boot Cave.

When it comes to instrumentation, a Yamaha DTX-MULTI 12 electronic percussion pad joined an array of plug-in bundles from Waves, Izotope, IK Multimedia, SoundToys, and Eventide, as well as WaveMachine Labs‘ Drumagog and ReStem.

Guitar: Eric Gales, Barbie T, Jennifer Batten, Ella Feingold, and Cob

Riffs, licks, leads, and face-melting solos abound, throughout Metal Health, and while Buckethead’s unrivaled playing is essential to the record, everybody knows that making music with friends is far more fun. Enter, Eric Gales, Barbie T, Ella Feingold, and Cob — a multidimensional mélange of musicality that sends Metal Health to stratospheric sonic heights. This is the guitar gear that brought Bootsy’s vision to life!

Turntables and Keys: Tobotious

Saxophones, Studio Gear, and Sequencing: Chew Fu

Drums and Bass: Dennis Chambers, Rob Trujillo, Billy Sheehan, and Nate Alien 8

For his work on Metal Health‘s “Trilogy” and “Water Walking,” Metallica’s Rob Trujillo and recording engineer Jason Gossman hunkered down at Steve Ogan’s Venice Beach, California-based studio. On both tracks, Rob utilized a 5-string Warwick bass, additionally brandishing a Fender P Bass for “Water Walking,” powered by an Ampeg SVT, with a Tech 21 Sansamp to give his playing the extra oomph and grit needed for the groove.

Across the record, multi-hyphenate producer, DJ, and bassist Nate Alien 8 brought his own, distinctive spin on Metal Health‘s low end. Nate’s Yamaha BB435 5-string, Yamaha TRB1006J 6-string, vintage Sadowsky MetroLine J/J 5-string, fretless Fender Jazz, and Ibanez BTB7MS 7-string basses, coupled with a Neural DSP Quad Cortex, powered his performances.

Holding down Metal Health‘s rhythm section is none other than Dennis Chambers, whose creative partnership with Bootsy Collins goes back to Dennis joining Parliament-Funkadelic in 1978, at just 18 years old. While Dennis departed P-Funk in 1985, his versatile funk, fusion, jazz, and Latin drum chops have powered a kaleidoscopic multi-genre career, playing alongside John Scofield, Santana, Steely Dan, Carlos Santana, George Duke, Victor Wooten, Greg Howe, and many, many more. On Metal Health, Dennis brought the full arsenal of Pearl drums/hardware, Zildjian cymbals, hi-hats, and drumsticks, and Evans drum heads.