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.”

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

• Stream “Funk Can Save U Revibed” — the Latest from Bootsy Collins & Buckethead
• Calling All Funk Fanatics: the Official Bootsy Collins x Rally Trading Cards 1st Edition is Here!
• Bootsy Collins and Buckethead Present: Metal Health
• 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 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

Stream “Funk Can Save U Revibed” — the Latest from Bootsy Collins & Buckethead

Following up the smash LP Metal Health, Bootsy Collins isn’t done rolling out the funk. Buckethead joins Bootsy for another take on a bangin’ Bootsy joint, giving Metal Health‘s “Funk Can Save You” the now-trademark “Revibed” treatment. If this feels familiar, this reimagining approach was previously applied to the full-length album’s title track, which stars Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, and Victor Wooten!

Stream “Funk Can Save U Revibed” below! ⬇️

Calling All Funk Fanatics: the Official Bootsy Collins x Rally Trading Cards 1st Edition is Here!

Bootsy Collins and Rally Trading Cards have collaborated on limited-edition, 12-card set, in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Bootsy’s legendary track, “I’d Rather Be With You,” additionally coinciding with Bootsy’s upcoming book, Funked Around, Found Out. This first-edition card is serial-numbered and features an eye-grabbing, holographic finish, and includes a robust bumper frame to keep it protected.

What’s more, random orders of Rally cards will include a Rally Cat redemption card for an autographed Bootsy Collins card! By either clicking the link or the image below, you can head over to Rally Trading Cards’ website to learn more and pick up your first-edition Bootsy Collins Collector Card! ➡️ https://www.rallytradingcards.com

Bootsy Collins and Buckethead Present: Metal Health

At long last, Metal Health — the latest full-length LP from Bootsy Collins and Buckethead — has landed, starring Victor Wooten, Rob Trujillo, Nate Alien8, Barbie T, Ouiwey Collins, Jennifer Batten, Eric Gales, Billy Sheehan, Tobotious, Manou Gallo, and Samuel L. Jackson.

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

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

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‘s release, and making Mental Health Awareness Month an all-year endeavor, 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 Album

With the new full-length LP Metal Health, 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.