Legendary P-Funk guitarist Garry Shider dies at 56

UPPER MARLBORO, MD. (AP) - Shider was known to millions of fans as "Starchild" or "Diaperman," the latter because of the loincloth he often wore onstage...

TheGrio Staff

Jun 17, 2010

UPPER MARLBORO, MD. (AP) — Legendary funk guitarist Garry Shider, whose work with Parliament and Funkadelic earned him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has died. He was 56.

Shider was known to millions of fans as “Starchild” or “Diaperman,” the latter because of the loincloth he often wore onstage.

Shider’s son, Garrett, says his father died Wednesday at his home in Upper Marlboro, Md. He had been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer in March.

He then briefly went on tour one last time but had to stop because of his failing health.

Shider started his career as a young boy, performing gospel music in churches in his native New Jersey.

He was still a teenager when he met P-Funk mastermind George Clinton and soon became a mainstay of that musical family.