Detroit Funk Musician Amp Fiddler Dead at 65

Detroit’s ambassador of funk Amp Fiddler dead at 65 years old.

Musician and singer Amp Fiddler was pronounced dead at 65 on Sunday night at Henry Ford Hospital after an extensive battle with cancer for the last few years. Fiddler was a musician who believed his music wasn’t just for a fun time but to help heal the world in various ways.

He began his career in the 1980s as part of the R&B group Enchantment and George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic. Post-working with groups, Fiddler found much success in his solo career before turning to become an educator of music with young artists.

A-Trak gave the late musician a tribute on Instagram, mentioning different highlights through his career. The musician was known for helping up-and-coming artists and mentoring people such as DJ J Dilla, an American record producer and member of the group Slum Village. Throughout Fiddler’s career, he made music with multiple icons, such as Prince, Moodymann, Tony Allen, and Theo Parrish.

Even through his sickness and battle in the hospital, Fiddler continued to make music with people he adored. Making music was considered a necessity for the musician, which makes sense why he continued to do it until his final days. Fiddler spoke about his intentions with music throughout his career in an interview with Beautiful Humans in 2017.

“I believe that I’m here for a reason, to make changes, to help and heal people somewhat,” he shared. “Music soothes the soul and I believe that we as artists have an obligation to keep bringing music when the frequency and the vibration helps to take people to a different, higher frequency, level, love or whatever it is.”

Fiddler was a legend and inspiration to many artists and citizens who lived in Detroit. DJ and producer Waajeed spoke on the importance of Fiddler in his hometown and recalled an instant when he was younger in the schoolyard, “a tour bus would pass our school, and we’d be like, ‘I bet Amp is inside of that tour bus.'” Sure enough, the legend stepped out in one of his famous oversized hats.

Donations can be made on his GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of his funeral and memorial service. While they reached the goal of $9,000, donations are still being accepted to assist his family in this time of need.