During an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak opened up about their journey coming together to form a band. The musical geniuses described how everything happened organically including coming up with their band name. In fact, .Paak revealed RoboCop Funk, The Conquistadors, The Atlantic Stars. and Lava Lamps were all names they originally toyed with until Funk legend Bootsy Collins threw out the idea — Silk Sonic.
“Done deal,” Mars and .Paak said simultaneously when asked their thoughts on Collins’ suggestion. “He’s got a way with names.” Mars also credited Collins for naming R&B singer Babyface too. “Bootsy is the definition of a superstar, just for everything,” the “Grenade” singer said. “The songs, the vibes … There’s so many artists that you can see that grew up on him.”
According to AllMusic, the iconic bass guitarist and musician has been a pillar in the funk and R&B world since the 70’s having worked alongside James Brown, Bill Laswell, Fatboy Slim, and Snoop Dogg to name a few. In 1997, Collins and his band Parliament-Funkadelic were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The recognition never stopped for Collins, either. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the musician as No. 4 in the legendary list of “50 Greatest Bassists of All Time.”