When I was coming up, we weren't trying to get a hit or get paid, we were just trying to do our thing. The only thing we were really trying to do was to be recognized for our originality.

Bootsy has collaborated extensively with Bill Laswell and made appearances on two Fatboy Slim records Illuminati as well as reading a poem at the end of FatBoy Slims's release in the LateNightTales DJ mix series. Bootsy's Rubber Band became the defacto backing musicians for Deee-Lite during a world tour. The record was credited to "Bonzo goes to Washington" (also referenced in the 1985 Ramones song "Bonzo goes to Bitburg" derived from Reagan's starring role as Professor Peter Boyd in the 1951 comedy film Bedtime for Bonzo).

Rising to prominence with James Brown in the late 1960s and with Parliament-Funkadelic in the '70s Collins's driving bass guitar and humorous vocals establiBootsy Collinsd him as one of the leading names in funk. Collins is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic.