George Porter Jr.

George Porter Jr. (born December 26, 1947) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and singer of the Meters. Along with Art Neville, Porter formed the group in the mid-1960s and came to be recognized as one of the progenitors of funk. The Meters disbanded in 1977, but reformed in 1989. The original group played in occasional reunions, with the Funky Meters, of which Porter and Neville are members, "keeping the spirit alive" until Neville's retirement in 2018 and death the following year. Porter has his own group, the Runnin' Pardners, and also other projects, such as The Trio with Johnny Vidacovich, New Orleans Social Club, Deep Fried, and Porter Batiste Stoltz. He has been performing and recording with a wide range of artists including Soul Rebels Brass Band, Dr. John, Paul McCartney, Robbie Robertson, Willy DeVille, Robert Palmer, Patti LaBelle, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, Johnny Adams, Harry Connick Jr., Earl King, Warren Haynes, Tori Amos, Snooks Eaglin and Dead & Company among many others. Porter joined John Scofield's Piety Street Band in 2008 to tour and to record. Jon Cleary and Ricky Fataar are also members of this band. In 2010, he replaced Reed Mathis in Bill Kreutzmann's band, 7 Walkers. Also in 2010 he performed with Runnin' Pardner at New Orleans' Voodoo Experience.