As the founder of Primus, fronting his own Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, and as a solo artist and collaborator, bassist/vocalist/songwriter/producer Les Claypool is a key figure in alt-rock’s history and evolution. Claypool formed the funk-metal trio Primus in the Bay Area in the mid-’80s—around the same time he was turned down to replace Cliff Burton in Metallica for, in James Hetfield’s words, “being too good.” Primus’ early tracks, such as “Too Many Puppies,” “John the Fisherman,” and “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver,” bridged the gap between Frank Zappa’s and Residents’ absurdism, metal and punk’s thrashy sonics, prog rock and jazz’s shifting tempos, and the Grateful Dead’s exploratory jamming. They’d go on to influence not just the nascent alternative scene (including headlining Lollapalooza in 1993), but also the rising nu metal scene of the mid-’90s. Since then, Claypool has spread his talents far and wide, forming the experimental rock groups Frog Brigade (with Primus members) and Oysterhead (with Phish’s Trey Anastasio and The Police's Stewart Copeland) and continuing to work across all manner of musical forms under his own name.