Sad news just before Christmas. Detroit soul singer/keyboardist and songwriter AMP FIDDLER died, yesterday – 17th December. Few details are available save that it was known that he’d been in ill health for some time and had undergone major surgery in 2022 and various fund raising schemes had been set up to pay his medical expenses. Some US sources suggest that he had been battling cancer. He was aged just 65.
Born Joseph Anthony Fiddler in Detroit, he began his music career working with the group Enchantment before joining the Clinton/Funkadelic/Parliament axis. He was part of the circus for almost 11 years. In his career he also worked with a variety of artists across genres, including Prince, Jamiroquai, Maxwell, J Dilla, The Brand New Heavies and Was Not Was.
His first solo release was the acclaimed 2004 album, ‘Waltz of a Ghetto Fly’ while his last album was 2017’s ‘Amp Dog Nights’. One of his best loved songs was ‘Eye To Eye’ while his collaboration with Will Sessions, ‘Lost Without You’, featured on the 2017 edition of ‘Soul Togetherness’.
Roots drummer Questlove poste today: “Rest easy brother Amp. For all those talks during the Pfunk tour. For all the music. Especially of course mentoring the one who mentored us (Dilla) — thank you brother.” While George Clinton added: “Rest in eternal musical excellence Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Joseph Anthony ‘Amp’ Fiddler (May 17th, 1958-December 17th, 2023),” Fly on Amp! We love you dearly!”
