Portrait of Bernie Worrell

Birthday profile

Bernie Worrell

Bernie Worrell, American keyboard player and songwriter (died 2016)

Born
April 19, 1944
Died
June 24, 2016
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1944

About Bernie Worrell

George Bernard Worrell, Jr. was an American keyboardist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, and a touring member of Talking Heads in the 1980s. He also worked with such producers and musicians as Keith Richards, Yoko Ono, Bill Laswell, Mos Def, Sly and Robbie, Fela Kuti and Cream's Jack Bruce. The New York Times journalist Jon Pareles, described Worrell as "the kind of sideman who is as influential as some bandleaders" and stated that his music "indelibly changed the sound of funk and hip-hop." Worrell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic, along with 15 other members the band. He also appeared with Talking Heads when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Worrell was the uncle of rapper and actor Chino XL. When Worrell first met George Clinton, Worrell was the musical director for the R&B singer Maxine Brown. The school awarded him an honorary Doctor of Music degree in May 2016. George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, and a touring member of Talking Heads in the 1980s.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Bernie Worrell timeline

  1. George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, and a touring member of Talking Heads in the 1980s.
  2. The school awarded him an honorary Doctor of Music degree in May 2016.

The world when Bernie Worrell was born

Bernie Worrell was born in 1944. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1944

  • #1 song"Swinging on a Star" – Bing Crosby
  • Top movieGoing My Way
  • Best-selling bookStrange Fruit – Lillian Smith

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentGreen Bay Packers win NFL Championship
  • Top headlineD-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6
  • Technology milestoneHarvard Mark I computer begins operations
  • Defining fadBobby socks
  • Notable inventionKidney dialysis machine
  • World population2.39 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
  • U.S. population138.4M

1944 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Bernie Worrell's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19442026
Gas$0.21$3.45/gal
Average home$5,800$435,000
Average income$4,200$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.27$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population138.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.